Introducing Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale in clinical practice in Serbia: Validation and cross-cultural adaptation

Abstract

Background/Aim. The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale is widely used in clinical practice for assessment of quality of life in patients with nasal obstruction. It has been validated in several countries up to date. The aim of this study was to validate and crossculturally adapt the NOSE scale for Serbian population. Methods. The Serbian version of the NOSE scale (NOSEs) was prepared through forward and backward translation, committee review, and pretesting. Validation process was carried out on 50 patients diagnosed with the nasal septal deviation (the study group) and 50 ear, nose and throat (ENT) patients with other non-rhinological diagnosis (the control group). Results. The NOSE-s instrument demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach ? coefficient 0.81). Stability and reliability of the NOSE-s questionnaire were confirmed by test-retest procedure showing no statistically significant difference in obtained responses (Goodman- Kruskal gamma coefficient 0.83). Item and total scores were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group indicating the very good inter-group discrimination (p < 0.001). Inter-item and item-total correlations were similar to the original NOSE instrument. Three months after septoplasty, a mean NOSE-s score in patients was 19.2 ? 12.8. Calculated standardized response mean of 1.7 showed high sensitivity to change. Conclusion. The Serbian version of the NOSE scale is simple, valid and reliable instrument for estimating the nasal obstruction. Therefore, it can be recommended for application in rhinological practice and research in Serbian speaking population.