Downloaded from http://journals.lww.com/jcraniofacialsurgery by BhDMf5ePHKbH4TTImqenVE+K0QyTIVibeymmX0pMvvnhJQMahg7ibPxxHZU0Co1H on 07/06/2020 Copyright © 2020 Mutaz B. Habal, MD. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Comparison of Quality of Life Before and After Septoplasty With Short Form-36 Ozlem Celebi Erdivanli, MD,  Zerrin Ozergin Coskun, MD,  Abdulkadir Ozgur, MD, y Mahmut Ogurlu, MD, z Munir Demirci, MD, § and Engin Dursun, MD  Abstract: The authors aimed to evaluate quality of life after septal surgery with Short Form-36 survey, and the effectiveness of the survey. Nasal symptoms (nasal obstruction, facial pain, catarrh), and general quality of life (using the Turkish version of the Short Form-36 questionnaire) were assessed preoperatively and at 1st and 6th postoperative months. Acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanome- try were assessed preoperatively and at 6th postoperative month. Data from 78 patients were analyzed. This prospective clinical study was conducted on patients complaining of nasal obstruction with nasal septal deviation. Seventy-eight patients were included in the study. Fourty-two patients (53.8%) were male and 36 patients (46.2%) were female. At 1st postoperative month, nasal obstruction, facial pain and catarrh scores significantly improved in all, 46, 18 patients, respectively (P < 0.0001). At 6th postoperative month, scores nonsignificantly worsened by 1 point in 12, 6, 12 patients, respectively. Nasal volume significantly increased and total resis- tance significantly decreased at 6th month (P < 0.0001). Compared to preoperative values, all items except social function and bodily pain significantly increased at 1st postoperative month. Compared to values at 1st postoperative month, only bodily pain score decreased at 6th postoperative month. One patient presented with septal perforation. Septoplasty is a well-established technique to reduce nasal obstruction and improve quality of life. SF-36 may be used as a reliable measure of changes in quality of life after septal surgery. Key Words: Nasal septal deviation, nasal septum, quality of life, questionnaire and surveys, short form-36 (J Craniofac Surg 2020;31: 832–835) T he evaluation of the quality of life (QOL) has become an interesting subject for study in recent years. Quality of life surveys are classified as general and specific. Physical and psycho- social effects of health status can be examined with general surveys, such as Short Form-36 (SF-36). SF-36 is a short, easily applicable, and a widely used self-administered questionnaire. 1 The scale consists of 36 items to measure 8 health concepts: physical function (PF) (10 items), social function (SF) (2 items), physical role limitation (RP) (4 items), emotional role limitation (RE) (3 items), general mental health (MH) (5 items), energy/vitality (VT) (4 items), bodily pain (BP) (2 items), and general perception of health (GH) (5 items). SF-36 evaluates the positive, as well as negative aspects of health status. SF-36 also evaluates the perception of change in health status over the past week and the past month. 1,2 Nasal obstruction is the most frequently observed complaint in otorhinolaryngology practise. The most common cause of nasal obstruction is nasal septal deviation (NSD). NSD, and accompa- nying conditions such as headache and sinusitis, may disturb QOL. Rhinomanometry and acoustic rhinometry are used to evaluate the extent of NSD, and to monitor the efficacy of surgery. 3 It is well known that septoplasty improves nasal airflow; but there is a contraversial issue regarding correlation of subjective and objective results of nasal surgery. Visual analog scales are commonly used to evaluate patients’ comfort but do not necessarily correlate with physical findings. 4 Therefore, in this prospective study, we aimed to use SF-36 to evaluate whether general QOL are altered in patients with nasal obstruction due to nasal septal deviation; and whether QOL can be improved by septoplasty surgery, in this prospective study. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective clinical study was peformed at the Otorhinolaryn- gology Department of Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an University Faculty of Medicine and was conducted on patients complaining of nasal obstruction with nasal septal deviation. Detailed information about the experiment was given to the participants and written consent was obtained. The study protocol was approved by the local ethical committee (2014/109) and all aspects of the study were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The exclusion criteria of the study were: (1) history of septoplasty or rhinoplasty operation, (2) concomitant rhinoplasty surgery, (3) Causes of nasal obstruction other than NSD, such as sinus disease, sinonasal malignancy, adenoid hypertrophy, (4) Age less than 18 years. The decision of surgery was performed according to complaints of patients, anterior rhinoscopic and endoscopic examination. Nasal symptoms (nasal obstruction, facial pain and catarrh) were evaluated with a likert scale from 0 to 3 (0, asymptomatic; 1, mild; 2, moderate; and 3, severe). Preoperatively, acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry were performed in all patients according to the From the  Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical Faculty, Rize; y Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Health Sciences, Samsun Health Practises and Research Center, Samsun; z Uskudar Anatolian Hospital, Istanbul; and § Medical- park Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Received December 15, 2019. Accepted for publication January 4, 2020. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ozlem Celebi Erdivanli, MD, Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an U ¨ niversitesi Tip Faku¨ltesi Eg˘itim ve Aras¸tirma Hastanesi, Islampas¸a Mahallesi, S¸ehitler Caddesi, No: 74, Kulak Burun Bog˘az Anabilim Dali, 53100, Rize, Turkey; E-mail: drozlemcelebi@hotmail.com The authors report no conflicts of interest. Supplemental digital contents are available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site (www.jcraniofa- cialsurgery.com). Copyright # 2020 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD ISSN: 1049-2275 DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000006358 CLINICAL STUDY 832 The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery  Volume 31, Number 3, May/June 2020