BACKGROUND: Nasal obstruction is the most common rhinologic complaint in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) clinical practice and septal deviation is the leading cause. The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale is a brief, self-administered questionnaire that has been widely used to assess symptoms and quality of life related to nasal obstruction, and is commonly used in clinical outcome studies. The aim of this study was to undertake a clinical evaluation of a Polish translation and cross-cultural modification of the NOSE scale for nasal obstruction.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A controlled clinical validation study was conducted in a tertiary referral center. The Polish version of the NOSE scale was developed according to cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. The psychometric properties of the Polish version of the NOSE scale (internal consistency, reproducibility, validity, responsiveness, interpretability) were assessed in 51 patients with nasal obstruction and 51 controls matched according to gender and age.

RESULTS: Internal consistency of the Polish version of the NOSE scale was 0.80 as assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, and an intraclass correlation of the reproducibility was 0.98. Construct inter-item and item-total correlations confirmed validity. Correlation confirmed appropriate criterion validity with a visual analog scale (VAS) and discriminant validity was confirmed between patients and controls. Responsiveness and interpretability were also confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the NOSE scale is a brief and reproducible clinical evaluation tool for use in clinical practice in Polish-speaking patients with nasal obstruction.

Keywords: Nasal Obstruction, Psychometrics, Quality of Life, Validation Studies