Translation and Validation of the "7-Item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire" to European Portuguese (PT).

Abstract

Eustachian tube dysfunction is a common cause of morbidity in both adults and children, associated with nasal andotologic symptoms. Symptomatic evaluation is very important for the correct diagnosis and evaluation of the treatment efficacy of thisentity. The "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire" was described and validated by McCoul et al and proved to be a usefultool, easy to apply, with good validity in the evaluation of eustachian tube dysfunction symptoms. This study presents the validationprocess of the European Portuguese version of the "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire". The aim of this study was totranslate and validate the European Portuguese version of "Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire-7". The "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire" was adapted and translated to European Portugueseusing standard validation methodology. The European Portuguese version of "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire"was completed by a group of 50 consecutive adult patients diagnosed with eustachian tube dysfunction and 25 healthy patients whoserved as a control group. All respondents in the Eustachian tube dysfunction group repeated the "7-item Eustachian Tube DysfunctionQuestionnaire" in a two week-period. Statistical analysis was performed to determine its psychometric properties (reliability -internalconsistency and test-retest reproducibility, and discriminant validity). Face and content validity were confirmed, and reliability testing revealed similar internal consistency for the entire instrumentas the original questionnaire, and strong correlation between individual items and total score. The questionnaire was easy and quickto administer. Test-retest reliability of the European Portuguese version was adequate, with excellent intraclass correlation coefficientsand without significant differences between the total score from the first and second evaluations. Discriminative validity was confirmedby statistically significant differences between scores of the test and control groups. This study presents the European Portuguese version of the "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire" questionnaire,an adapted, validated and well-accepted instrument to evaluate the symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction in the EuropeanPortuguese speaking population. The European Portuguese version of the "7-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire" is recommended as aroutine procedure in the assessment of patients with eustachian tube dysfunction in the European Portuguese speaking populationand for the evaluation of treatment outcome.