Nasal Symptom Questionnaire: Our Proposed Scoring System and Prognostic Factors in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Objectives: We aimed to verify the usefulness of our proposed nasal symptom questionnaire (NSQ) scoring system and to determine predictors linked to the improvement in nasal symptoms in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Patients and Methods: Ninety-one CRS patients undergoing ESS and 144 volunteers with results of NSQ available were enrolled. The NSQ consists of 10 items. Receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the ROC curve (AUC), internal consistency, and test-retest reproducibility of the NSQ were analyzed. The relationship of the NSQ score with the visual analogue scale (VAS) was examined. After classifying into two groups, i.e., (i) "improvement group" and (ii) "no-improvement group," factors linked to the improvement in NSQ after ESS were investigated. Results: ROC-AUC (0.9318), the Cronbach α coefficient (0.8696), and the test-retest coefficient (0.8131) showed high reliability. NSQ score significantly correlated with VAS in both pre- (p #x3c; 0.0001, r_s = 0.6007) and postoperative stages (p #x3c; 0.0001, r_s = 0.5975). The postoperative NSQ scores significantly decreased compared with baseline levels (p #x3c; 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the computed tomography (CT) score by the Lund-Mackay scoring system revealed to be significant (p = 0.0481). Conclusion: Our proposed NSQ scoring system was well verified. The CT score can be helpful for predicting the improvement in nasal symptoms after ESS in CRS patients.
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