Snoring, Trouble Breathing, Un-Refreshed (STBUR) Screening Questionnaire to Reduce Perioperative Respiratory Adverse Events in Pediatric Surgical Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

Children who present for surgery with undiagnosed sleep-disordered breathing are particularly vulnerable to perioperative respiratory adverse events (PRA Es). Preoperative screening can identify children at increased risk who would benefit from evidence-based perioperative management, reducing serious preventable harm or death. The purpose of this quality improvement study was 2-fold: (1) increase identification of pediatric surgical patients who may be at increased risk of PRAE through the introduction of a validated pediatric screening questionnaire (Snoring, Trouble Breathing, Un-Refreshed [STBUR]), and (2) reduce preventable harm by introducing evidence-based perioperative management guidelines. A pre-post intervention design was conducted in 6,216 patients aged 1 to 18 years. The STBUR questionnaire embedded in the electronic medical record was the primary intervention. Data for the primary outcome measure and 3 secondary process measures were analyzed using Yatesχ2 and Fisher exact test to compare proportional change. After STBUR implementation, PRAE risk identification increased from 10.5% to 15% (χ2 (1, N = 12,975) = 57.19, z = -7.59, P < .001, odds ratio =1.49). Results of the secondary process measures were mixed. The STBUR screening questions embedded in the medical record significantly improved identification of patients at risk, allowing modification of perioperative management toward safer practices.