Quality of life in nasal polyposis

Background: Nasal polyposis (NP) is a frequent inflammatory chronic disease of the upper respiratory tract, which may impair quality of life (QOL), Th e NP impact, which is frequently associated with lower respiratory disorder s, has never before been studied. Objective: We initiated this prospective study to establish internal validi ty and reliability of the generic SF-36 questionnaire in NP and to determin e to what level daily functioning becomes impaired as a result of NP, Metho ds: Forty-nine consecutive patients with NP were Included. They were assess ed for the severity of nasal symptoms and underwent pulmonary function test s, The QOL profiles in patients with NP were compared with those of patient s with perennial rhinitis (n = 111) and healthy subjects (n = 116), Results: Cronbach's coefficient alpha demonstrated the high reliability and validity of the SF-36 questionnaire for patients with NP (alpha = .89), NP impaired QOL more than perennial allergic rhinitis (P <.05), The impairmen t of QOL was greater when NP was associated with asthma (P <.05), SF-36 sco res appeared highly correlated to pulmonary function (FEV1, maximal midexpi ratory flow, forced vital capacity), suggesting relationships between QOL i n NP and associated bronchial obstruction. Severity of nasal symptoms were not related to QOL scales, In addition, sequential evaluations of QOL, nasa l symptoms, and pulmonary function were performed 10 months after the first evaluation in 28 patients with NP. These evaluations demonstrated that NP treatment either with nasal steroids or endonasal ethmoidectomy significant ly improved both nasal symptoms and QOL without significant change of pulmo nary function, Conclusion: Our study clearly demonstrated that the SF-36 questionnaire pre sented a high internal validity and reliability in patients with NP, NP imp aired QOL to a greater degree than perennial allergic rhinitis, QOL improve ment after NP treatment is related to nasal symptoms improvement.