Translation and Validation of the Turkish Parotidectomy Outcome Inventory-8

Salivary gland tumors are common tumors of the head and neck region, and most are located in the parotid gland and the majority are benign. Parotidectomy, which is applied in the treatment of these tumors, is a very specific procedure in terms of both surgical technique and complications. Many quality of life (QoL) questionnaires have been used to evaluate the patient after parotid surgery; however, none are specific to parotidectomy. The Parotidectomy Outcome Inventory-8 (POI-8) was developed and validated in German to measure QoL after parotidectomy in patients with benign tumors. In this study, our aim was to translate POI-8 into Turkish and study its validity and reliability.

Fifty patients had parotidectomy due to benign pathologies and they were included in the study. All participants were administered the Turkish version of the University of Washington QoL questionnaire (UW-QoL), which had previously been validated in Turkish, and the Turkish version of the POI-8, which was prepared with expert committee evaluation. Validity assessment, internal consistency analysis, intra-rater and inter-rater reliability assessment were performed for POI-8.

In the Turkish version of POI-8, a high level of intra-rater and inter-rater reliability was detected. A high-level, negative correlation was observed between POI-8 and UW-QoL. A strong internal consistency was detected with a high Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

POI-8, which we translated into Turkish and validated, can be used safely by head and neck surgeons to measure QoL after parotidectomy with its high reliability values.