Development and Validation of the Sinonasal Outcome Test-12

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Quality of Life Research
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Quality of life (QoL) questionnaires are crucial for assessing medical intervention impact and healthcare outcomes.
• Subjective health status and its effect on QoL are primary aims of these instruments.
• Existing sinonasal assessment tools can be lengthy, prompting the need for shorter alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient, brief sinonasal disease assessment instrument, the sinonasal outcomes test-12 (SNOT-12).
• To compare the performance and validity of the SNOT-12 against the established SNOT-22 questionnaire.

Main Methods:

• A two-phase cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2019 to February 2020.
• Phase 1 involved item reduction to create the initial SNOT-12 scale.
• Phase 2 focused on validation through comparative analysis of SNOT-12 and SNOT-22.

Main Results:

• The SNOT-12 retained the four latent factors identified in exploratory factor analysis: nasal, sleep/extra-nasal, psychological, and ear/facial symptoms.
• A strong correlation (r=0.973) was observed between SNOT-12 and SNOT-22.
• The SNOT-12 demonstrated good construct reliability (0.705-0.901), validity, and superior discrimination power compared to SNOT-22.

Conclusions:

• The SNOT-12 is a validated and reliable short-form instrument.
• This tool is suitable for the initial screening and ongoing monitoring of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.