Evaluation of patient benefit from nasal septal surgery for nasal obstruction

The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) to assess the patient's perception of benefit derived from nasal septal surgery for nasal obstruction. Seventy-five patients undergoing septal surgery +/- inferior turbinate reduction for nasal obstruction were included in the study. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was performed. The patients completed the Glasgow Benefit Inventory, indicated their pre-operative and post-operative nasal symptoms and subjective improvement in nasal obstruction. There was a highly significant correlation (P<0.001) between the GBI total score, subjective post-operative nasal obstruction, post-operative nasal symptoms score and change in nasal symptoms score. The mean standardised GBI score was 2.96 (S.D.=0.28, S.E.M.=0.03) and 3.26 (S.D.=0.18, S.E.M.=0.03) in patients with and without post-operative nasal obstruction, respectively. The mean difference was 0.29 (S.E.D.=0.06, 95% CI=0.16 to 0.42, P<0.001). Thus the GBI discriminates between above and below criteria in this group of patients. Multiple regression analysis showed that subscale scores of GBI explain about 40% of the variance in the outcome, which is highly significant (R2=0.39, F=15, d.f.=3.70, P<0.001). We conclude that GBI is a valuable tool for the assessment of benefit from nasal septal surgery for nasal obstruction and may be applicable in clinical practice.