Evaluation of patients who underwent palate surgery by conducting a Turkish validation study of the palate postoperative problems score (PPOPS)questionnaire

In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), the most common surgical intervention is performed on the palate. Patients who undergo surgery may have complaints related to the postoperative surgical procedure. A standard "Palate postoperative problems score (PPOPS)" questionnaire, in which these complaints can be documented in detail, was developed by Rashwan et al. First, a Turkish language validation study of the PPOPS survey was conducted. Then, the validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of the PPOPS survey was carried out. Three patient groups were included in the study. To evaluate the early results of palate surgery, patients with complaints of snoring, witnessed apnea and daytime sleepiness were admitted to Pamukkale University Ear Nose and Throat Polyclinic between 2021 and 2023, and patients who underwent palate surgery with the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea disease or simple snoring after physical examination and PSG test were included in the study. The results of the patients who agreed to participate were evaluated. Patients who underwent palate surgery due to OSAS were interviewed individually and filled out the PPOPS questionnaire in the early postoperative period, at 1, 3 and 6 months. In addition, the Epworth scale, snoring frequency and severity were examined in these patients preoperatively, 1st and 3rd months postoperatively. AHI, minimum oxygen saturation and VKI values of the patients in the preoperative and postoperative 3rd month were recorded. Surgical success and the results of the PPOPS survey of palate surgery were evaluated in this group. In addition, in order to evaluate tonsillectomy, which is often performed as an adjunct to OSAS surgery, and RF procedure, which is a procedure frequently performed on the palate in OSAS patients, with the PPOPS questionnaire, we had the patients who underwent these procedures fill out the PPOPS at the 1st and 3rd months. In order to examine the long-term responses of patients who had OSAS surgery to the PPOPS questionnaire, patients who had OSAS surgery at least three years ago also filled out the questionnaire. According to the results of repeated measurements, the decrease in the survey score and the statistical significance of this score decrease indicate that there are various complaints in patients who have undergone palate surgery three years ago and can be detected with the PPOPS survey. These data showed that the Turkish version of the PPOPS survey was valid. However, a change in the tonsillectomy procedure, which is frequently added to palate surgery, was also detected with the PPOPS survey. Therefore, it should be taken into consideration that the "tonsillectomy" procedure may affect the PPOPS survey results in patients who also underwent tonsillectomy in addition to palate surgery. RF treatment applied to the palate shows a change in the PPOPS survey results. PPOPS survey results for RF surgery to the palate and similar procedures should be investigated in future studies. In our study, we measured reliability with Cronbach's alpha and found the value to be 0.708. This shows that its Turkish validation is reliable. The Turkish version of the PPOPS questionnaire, which was validated in Turkish in this study, can be used to monitor complaints caused by palate surgeries in the early and late postoperative periods.