title: Development and validation of a laryngopharyngeal reflux questionnaire, the Pharyngeal Reflux Symptom Questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and validate the Pharyngeal Reflux Symptom Questionnaire (PRSQ), a comprehensive, disease-specific, self-administered questionnaire for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PRSQ was developed based on empirical evidence from a literature review and expert input from physicians and patients and tested in a pilot study. In this validation study, a total of 228 patients were included and classified according to the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) cut-off score. Patients with an RSI score > 13 were defined as abnormal, i.e. having LPR disease (n = 102), and those with a score between 0 and 13 were defined as normal controls (n = 126). Psychometric properties of the PRSQ were evaluated by exploring the factor structure and by evaluating internal consistency and item convergent and discriminant validity. Convergent and discriminant validity were determined by using the Laryngopharyngeal Reflux-Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire (LPR-HRQL), the RSI and the Short Form-36.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PRSQ was well accepted by the patients. Compliance was satisfactory and missing item rates were low. After item reduction, due to items not being conceptually relevant or scaling errors and/or low factor loadings, a construct was achieved with no scaling errors and high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.79-0.93). The correlations between the PRSQ and similar dimensions in the RSI and LPR-HRQL were generally strong. Discriminant validity was satisfactory as the questionnaire discriminated between patients with and without LPR disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PRSQ showed good psychometric properties and may become a valuable instrument for assessing LPR disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. olof.l.andersson@vgregion.se
authors.forename: Olle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rydén
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.forename: Riitta Ylitalo
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Finizia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology; D003679:Deglutition; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D057045:Laryngopharyngeal Reflux / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires