Patient Demographics
All caregivers for 167 patients (94 males and 73 females, median age of
5.19 years) completed the pre-operative T-14 questionnaire at the time
of surgery (Table 1). T-14 questionnaire data was available from the
time of the initial consultation for 63 participants. Post-operative
T-14 questionnaires were collected from 160 and 148 participants at 6
weeks and 6 months, respectively, with an overall drop-out rate of 12%.
The demographics of the patients, surgical indications for
tonsillectomy, Brodsky tonsil grade, surgical techniques and surgical
waiting times are presented in Table 1. Duration of waiting times for
surgery was median 174 (IQR 7 – 529) days, with 85% of patients
waiting longer than 90 days for surgery (median 184 [IQR 146.5 -
379] days). Three patients had their surgery expedited due to
worsening symptoms (failure to thrive, repeated hospital admissions for
treatment of recurrent tonsillitis, and worsening obstructive sleep
apnoea).