The Pilonidal Sinus Disease-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (SQoL): Reliability, Validity, and Utilisation

Area of Science:

• Surgical outcomes assessment
• Patient-reported outcome measures
• Inflammatory disease management

Background:

• Pilonidal sinus disease presents complex symptoms not fully captured by generic quality of life (QoL) tools.
• Existing QoL instruments may inadequately assess the unique challenges of pilonidal sinus disease.
• A disease-specific questionnaire is needed to accurately evaluate patient experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel pilonidal sinus disease-specific quality of life (SQoL) questionnaire.
• To assess the validity and applicability of the SQoL for measuring postoperative outcomes.
• To establish a reliable tool for evaluating the impact of pilonidal sinus disease treatment.

Main Methods:

• Development of a new SQoL questionnaire for pilonidal sinus disease.
• Administration of the SQoL and SF-36v2 questionnaires to 116 adult patients.
• Evaluation of SQoL's internal consistency, measurement stability, construct, and discriminant validity.

Main Results:

• High internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.919) and moderately significant test-retest correlation (Spearman's ρ = 0.55).
• Significant inverse correlations between SQoL and SF-36v2 domains, particularly Physical Functioning (-0.770) and Role Physical Functioning (-0.600).
• Successful data collection from 103 patients (88.79% response rate) 2 months post-procedure.

Conclusions:

• The developed SQoL questionnaire demonstrates validity and applicability for assessing pilonidal sinus disease.
• The SQoL effectively captures disease-specific symptoms and treatment impact.
• Standardized outcome measures like the SQoL can enhance systematic reviews and personalized patient care.