Translation and Validation of the Thai Version of the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale

Abstract

Objective: The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) was developed to evaluate subjective outcomes of patients with deviated nasal septum and symptomatic nasal obstruction. Considering the differences in individuals' cultural, cross-cultural translation, adaptation, and validation of the instrument are necessary. The current study aimed to translate and validate the Thai version of the NOSE Questionnaire for patients with nasal septum deviation. Study Design: A single-center prospective instrument validation study. Setting: Thai tertiary referral center. Methods: The study was conducted to translate and adapt the original English version of the NOSE to Thai. After translating, psychometric testing was conducted. The primary outcomes were validity (content, construct, and discriminant), reproducibility (test-retest procedure), and internal consistency (reliability). A total of 105 participants, of which 46 were patients with nasal airway obstruction and 59 were healthy asymptomatic volunteers, were enrolled in this study. Results: The Thai-NOSE was found to be adequate for all tested psychometric properties with high internal consistency (Cronbach's α =.942), and to discriminate accurately between patients and healthy controls. The interitem and item-total correlations indicated a related construct among all items. A high level of reproducibility of the questionnaire was obtained in the test-retest procedure for each item (γ = 0.898). The initial test and retest scores indicated adequate reproducibility. Conclusion: The Thai-NOSE questionnaire is a reliable instrument with appropriate psychometric properties for assessing the severity and impact of nasal airway obstruction in patients with nasal septum deviation.