[Validated instruments to measure quality of life in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis]

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a disease of remarkable medical and economic importance. Therefore, assessment of the objective as well as the subjective outcomes of different therapeutic strategies in CRS patients is of growing interest. Validated quality-of-life (QOL) instruments are one important means of assessing the subjective outcomes of patients. The Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) is the most frequently used generic instrument in medicine and is typically used in prospective studies. A German version of this questionnaire has been validated, providing normative data as well as data for comparison with other diseases. The Glasgow Benefit Inventory, which was designed for retrospective studies, is another frequently used QOL instrument. Several disease-specific measuring instruments for use in CRS patients have been developed during the last 15 years. In this review, we evaluate 11 disease-specific QOL instruments. Only four of these instruments cover the four main symptoms of CRS and are validated instruments as well. The most frequently used instruments [Sino-Nasal Outcome Test 20 (SNOT-20) and the Chronic Sinusitis Survey] do not query all of the main symptoms of CRS, whereas the only validated German instrument (SNOT-20 GAV) meets this requirement. For the latter instrument, a grading scale is available that allows interpretation of the results for a single patient.