Abstract
Objective: The incidence of quinsy is rising in the UK for reasons which are unclear. There were >7000 hospital diagnosed episodes last year in England alone. Some suggest a link to the decline in elective tonsillectomy. Our aim was to compare chronic throat symptoms in quinsy patients and controls.
Method: The validated 16-item Tonsillectomy Outcome Inventory (TOI-16) was used to compare the impact of throat symptoms over the previous 6 months in 119 controls (no quinsy history) and 55 contactable (by telephone) quinsy patients (34M, 21F), who had an average experience of 1.4 (range 0-4) quinsies. Analysis was in SPSS.
Results: The TOI-16 Cronbach’s α = .92, indicating high internal consistency. The mean 6-month overall throat impact scores in quinsy patients (21.0) were significantly greater than that in volunteers (10.9 P < .05). The post-quinsy interval had only modest effect on the overall mean score. Younger people had higher scores in both groups. On item-by-item analysis, quinsy patients recorded significantly higher mean reported scores over the previous 6 months for snoring, visits to the doctor, and frequent use of antibiotics (all P < .001) and halitosis, catarrh, missed social gatherings or events, missed work-days, and depression due to throat problems (all P < .05).
Conclusion: Ongoing throat problems are far more prevalent and severe in quinsy patients than controls, with a clear life impact. In many, quinsy represents an acute episode on a background of chronic throat problems. The optimal acute management—notably the place and timing of tonsillectomy—should take account of this.
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