Reliability and validity of the Turkish Nose Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale

Abstract

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to validate the Turkish Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (T-NOSE) scale.Materials and methods: The NOSE scale was translated into Turkish. A prospective study was conducted involving adult subjects withnasal obstruction and a control group. The patients were divided into three groups, namely nasal septum deviation (NSD), septoplasty,and control groups. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, validity, responsiveness, and the magnitude of the effect of surgery wereall investigated.Results: In total, 253 subjects were enrolled in the study. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.938 and 0.942 upon test and retest, respectively, whichproved good internal consistency. The mean kappa value was 0.82, indicating a high level of reproducibility. The difference betweenpostoperative and control groups was not statistically significant (P < 0.05). The T-NOSE score of the NSD group was 65.67 ± 16.77,while it was 10.75 ± 12.25 for the control group (P < 0.01). The mean score improved following septoplasty (P < 0.001). The magnitudeof the effect of surgery was considered high. The correlation between the visual analogue scale and NOSE scores was 0.948.Conclusion: The T-NOSE scale is a valid instrument with good internal consistency, reliability, reproducibility, validity, andresponsiveness.