Extending the use of the Endoscopic Endonasal Sinus and Skull Base Surgery Questionnaire in a cross-sectional study: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis versus healthy controls.

OBJECTIVES

There are several instruments to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Unfortunately, none of them evaluates all three health domains (physical, social and psychological) important to assess the overall well-being of the patient. The Endoscopic Endonasal Sinus and Skull Base Surgery Questionnaire (EES-Q) does assess all these elements. Initially, the EES-Q is validated to evaluate the impact of endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) on HRQoL. The aim of this study is to assess whether EES-Q outcomes differ in patients with CRS compared with healthy individuals. Therefore, extending the use of the EES-Q for all CRS patients.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Tertiary referral hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred patients with uncontrolled CRS (50% with nasal polyps) scheduled to receive EES. The questionnaire was completed preoperatively. Healthy control subjects (n = 100) without any history of sinusitis or a known current medical treatment at a hospital were included.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mann-Whitney U test was performed to identify differences in EES-Q scores (domain scores and EES-Q score).

RESULTS

The median EES-Q score in CRS patients (33.8) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in the control group (10.4). As well as the physical (52.5 vs. 16.4, p < 0.001), psychological (13.8 vs. 5.0, p < 0.001) and social (37.5 vs. 2.5, p < 0.001) domain scores.

CONCLUSIONS

With this study, we are extending the use of the EES-Q. It indicates that the EES-Q can be a valuable clinical tool to assess multidimensional HRQoL in all patients with CRS.