title: Evaluation of a German version of the tonsil and adenoid health status instrument.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To create and validate a German version of the Tonsil and Adenoid Health Status Instrument (TAHSI) for evaluation of tonsillectomy outcome in adult patients with chronic or recurrent tonsillitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  46 healthy volunteers were assessed twice in a 6 week interval with the TAHSI questionnaire. Their results were compared with 45 patients suffering from chronic tonsillitis before tonsillectomy and 6 months following surgery. For internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was calculated; to identify normal score values, the optimum cutoff between healthy and diseased individuals was identified with receiver operating characteristic analysis; and responsiveness was assessed using Guyatt's Responsiveness Index (GRI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's alpha for all questions was 0.92. Test- retest intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.89 (95% confidence interval 0.80-0.94 p < 0.001). Mean score for the healthy individuals was 7.0 (95% confidence interval 4.2-9.7). The optimum cut off score between healthy and diseased was 20 with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 90% to differentiate controls from tonsillectomy patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The TAHSI performed well in this validation tests and is considered a favorable instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of tonsillectomy in adults with chronic or recurrent tonsillitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstr 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steinbichler
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstr 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Birte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Community Hospital Kufstein, Endach 27, A-6330 Kufstein, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blassnigg
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstr 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riechelmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D012372:ROC Curve; D012008:Recurrence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014068:Tonsillectomy; D014069:Tonsillitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chronic tonsillitis; Cronbach’s alpha; Guyatt’s responsiveness Index; Quality of life; Receiver operating characteristic analysis; Test-retest reliability