title: French adaptation and validation of the sino-nasal outcome test-22: a prospective cohort study on quality of life among 422 subjects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  ENT surgeons are facing an ever-increasing demand to demonstrate their efficacy. The 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) is a fully validated and easy-to-use outcome measure in rhinology. Our goal was to translate and validate the SNOT-22 in a cohort of 422 French-speaking subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The French version of the SNOT-22 was obtained by forward and backward translations by six independent interpreters. Five experienced rhinologists compared the translations to each other, and a group of 12 naive patients selected the most appropriate translation of each item. To evaluate this questionnaire, we conducted a prospective cohort study on 376 rhinological patients and 46 healthy volunteers in three University-affiliated teaching Hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reproducibility (test-retest reliability), internal consistency, known-group differences, responsiveness to treatment, validity and correlation to other clinical instruments (visual analogue scale, Nasal Obstruction Symptoms Evaluation score and Lund-Mackay score).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.78, indicating a good reliability when administering the instrument on two different occasions. The internal consistency was high with a Cronbach's α value of 0.93. Our questionnaire was able to detect differences between rhinological patients and control subjects (P < 0.0001) and improved significantly after nose and sinus surgery (P < 0.0001), indicating a good responsiveness. There was a relative correlation with visual analogue scale and Nasal Obstruction Symptoms Evaluation (NOSE) score, but no correlation with Lund-Mackay score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SNOT-22 is a reliable and valid tool to assess quality of life in French-speaking patients and correlates well with known indices of disease severity.
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, University Hospital of Dinant-Godinne, UCL, Yvoir, Belgium.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Dorlodot
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horoi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eloy
authors.forename: A-L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Poirrier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059747:Nasal Surgical Procedures; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010254:Paranasal Sinus Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations