Quality of life in children with chronic suppurative otitis media with or without cholesteatoma.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To validate a disease-specific health related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument for children with chronic suppurative otitis media with or without cholesteatoma.

METHODS:

Caregivers of 45 children with chronic suppurative otitis media, who were offered an operation (tympanoplasty or radical mastoidectomy) in a tertiary children's hospital, were administered a 5-item quality of life survey (COM-5) The COM-5, which is a modified version of OM-6, was administered four times: few weeks and few days before operation and six months and one year postoperatively. Psychometric characteristics and more specifically test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity, and responsiveness to clinical change of the COM-5 score were the main outcome measures.

RESULTS:

Median COM-5 score was 2.6 (1- to 7-point scale) with higher scores indicating poorer quality of life. Test-retest reliability was good (interclass correlation coefficient=0.73) Construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between COM-5 score and global ear-related quality of life (R=-0.485), between physical suffering and ear-related physician visits (R=0.41) and between caregiver concerns vs ear-related physician visits (R=0.44). The mean change in COM-5 score after successful tympanoplasty was 1.1 and correlated well with the change of global ear-related quality of life rating (R=-0.545) as well as with the degree of clinical change reported by the caregiver (R=0.494). The mean standardized response was 1.3 after tympanoplasty indicating the instrument's large responsiveness to clinical change after this procedure, but only 0.7 after radical mastoidectomy.

CONCLUSIONS:

The COM-5 is a valid, reliable and responsive instrument. Apart from its satisfactory psychometric characteristics, it can be easily administered in caregivers of children who require a tympanoplasty due to chronic suppurative otitis media.

• Authors: I M Vlastos, D Kandiloros, L Manolopoulos, E Ferekidis, I Yiotakis
• Journal: International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology (Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol) Vol. 73 Issue 3 Pg. 363-9 (Mar 2009) ISSN: 1872-8464 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 19108902 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Child
• Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear (complications, surgery)
• Chronic Disease
• Humans
• Mastoid (surgery)
• Otitis Media, Suppurative (complications, surgery)
• Quality of Life
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Tympanoplasty