Validation of the Endoscopic Endonasal Sinus and Skull Base Surgery Questionnaire (EES-Q) for Use in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Objectives

The Endoscopic Endonasal Sinus and Skull Base Surgery Questionnaire (EES-Q) is the only known instrument designed to assess Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) across all three health domains: physical, social, and psychological. Initially, the EES-Q was validated to evaluate the impact of endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) on HRQoL. Our goal is to use the EES-Q for all CRS patients, regardless of their treatment phase. Previously, we demonstrated a significantly worse HRQoL in tertiary CRS patients compared to healthy individuals. The aim of this study is to validate these findings in a secondary referral cohort distributed across multiple centres, thereby extending the applicability of the EES-Q to all CRS patients.

Design

Multicentre know-groups validity study.

Setting

Five secondary referral hospitals and one tertiary referral centre.

Participants

A total of 100 healthy control subjects without any history of sinusitis or current hospital-based medical treatment, 100 CRS patients from a secondary centre with no history of EES, and 100 CRS patients from a tertiary centre were included.

Main Outcome Measures

Mann–Whitney U test was performed to identify differences in domain scores and EES-Q scores between the different cohorts.

Results

The median EES-Q scores, as well as the physical, psychological, and social domain scores, were significantly higher in the secondary and tertiary cohorts compared to the healthy controls. No significant differences were observed between the secondary and tertiary cohorts.

Conclusion

We validated the EES-Q as an HRQoL instrument for use in CRS.