The development of a questionnaire, for early detection of upper respiratory tract obstruction, mouth breathing and adenoid face

Background: Growing children often suffer upper respiratory tract infections which can undergo repeated obstruction of upper respiratory tract or OURT. Prolonged OURT results in the onset of mouth breathing habits, which can disrupt growth and development, thus resulting in morphological dento cranio facial deviation can and even more thorough aberration in physical growth and development. Further impacts include psychic and socialization disorder. Therefore, early detection of Mouth Breathing is needed to prevent the occurrence of undesirable deviations. Purpose: This study is aimed to develop a tool for early detection and diagnosis of OURT, mouth breathing habits and adenoid face. Method: A cross sectional study was done with 189 OURT subjects. All subjects were 9-15 years of age. Data obtained from a questionnaire, physical examination, and analyzed with Cronbach alpha and correlation between items. Result: A valid and reliable questionnaire was developed. The entire questionnaire could be trusted with Cronbach alpha values between 0.7-0.9. The r value was 0.51 to 0.75 and ranged from 0.76 to 1.00 for the correlation between items.