Development of the Nasal Obstruction Disability Index (NODI).

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Quality of Life Assessment
• Medical Scale Development

Background:

• Nasal obstruction significantly impacts patients' quality of life.
• Existing assessment tools may not fully capture the subjective experience of nasal obstruction.
• A validated instrument is needed to evaluate functional and psychosocial dimensions of nasal obstruction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new scale for assessing the subjective severity of nasal obstruction.
• To create a tool that evaluates nasal obstruction from functional and psychosocial perspectives, independent of its cause.
• To establish the psychometric properties of the developed scale.

Main Methods:

• A 27-item prototype scale was developed by otolaryngology experts.
• The scale was administered to 203 patients with nasal obstruction and 135 controls.
• Validity, reliability, and factor analyses were conducted, followed by refinement and retesting.

Main Results:

• The final 20-item Nasal Obstruction Disability Index (NODI) comprised four factors: functional, sleep, social, and emotional problems.
• The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91).
• All items and factor scores showed significant discriminative ability and test-retest reliability.

Conclusions:

• The Nasal Obstruction Disability Index (NODI) is a reliable and valid instrument.
• The NODI effectively assesses the subjective severity of nasal obstruction.
• The index exhibits excellent reproducibility for clinical use.