The Arabic nasal obstruction symptom evaluation scale (Arabic NOSE): validation and severity categorization in Middle...

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Medical Translation
• Health Outcomes Research

Background:

• Nasal obstruction significantly impacts quality of life.
• Validated instruments are crucial for accurate assessment.
• Existing tools may not adequately address linguistic and cultural nuances of Arabic-speaking populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Adapt the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale into Arabic.
• Evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic NOSE scale in a diverse Middle Eastern cohort.
• Establish a preliminary severity categorization for nasal obstruction using the Arabic NOSE scale.

Main Methods:

• Forward-backward translation of the NOSE scale into Arabic.
• Recruitment of adult Arabic speakers (patients with nasal obstruction and asymptomatic controls).
• Assessment of construct validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, responsiveness, and score discrimination using statistical analyses including ROC curve analysis.

Main Results:

• The Arabic NOSE scale showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.92) and test-retest reliability (r=0.93).
• Scores strongly correlated with patient-reported visual analog scale (VAS) and surgeon-assessed severity.
• A cutoff score of <25 demonstrated high sensitivity (96.2%) and specificity (94.3%) in distinguishing between normal and symptomatic individuals.
• Significant improvement in NOSE scores post-surgery (mean change 56.0, p<0.001) indicated high responsiveness.

Conclusions:

• The Arabic NOSE scale is a reliable, valid, and responsive instrument for evaluating nasal obstruction in Arabic-speaking populations.
• A preliminary cutoff score of <25 is proposed for differentiating between asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals.
• Further prospective external validation is recommended before widespread clinical adoption.