121 Ear complaints in a general population; the Normative data of the Otology Questionnaire Amsterdam in the Netherlands 6 that reduced gustatory sequelae, does not necessarily lead to loss of taste. No other explainations for this phenomenon were found. It is important to note that the OQUA is a domain-specific PROM designed to assess a wide range of ear-related symptoms and their impact on quality of life. There are no disease-specific variants of the OQUA. This instrument was specifically developed to be applicable across various otologic conditions and patient populations, making it distinct from disease-specific PROMs such as the COMQ-12 (for chronic otitis media) or the DHI (for dizziness). Consequently, there is no need for cross-calibration or metric linking between ‘generic’ and ‘disease-specific’ versions, as only one version of the OQUA exists. The availability of OQUA normative data is based on a healthy sample according to age and sexes in a Dutch population and enables to calculate normative data on an individual level. Applying the OQUA does not require formal specialized training. Repetitive use of the OQUA, preferable before and after treatment makes it an powerful tool for evaluating the therapeutic effect for patients with ear complaints. Strengths and Limitations This study reports prevalence of ear complaints in a large general population in the Netherlands using the OQUA. These normative data increase the interpretability of the OQUA significantly. The OQUA can also be utilized in larger cohort of patients groups. With the normative data available analysis on these groups can now be placed in a broader perspective. The 95th percentile was chosen as the OQUA norm score for all subscales. In this way only 5% of the normal population will have comparable or higher OQUA scores than patients with ear complaints. This percentile is the most uncertain value though since it is most in the tail of the calculations, out of 500 people only 25 participants were expected to be above this threshold. The higher than expected normscores of the OQUA in all complaints suggest that it is of importance to not only focus on the primary complaint but look at all ear complaints. Ear complaints measured by the OQUA might be high pre-operative and might not change to a value below the normscore. This is something to consider during consultation before surgery. Complaints potentially play a bigger role affecting the quality of life than suggested in literature. The OQUA is suitable to quantify all ear complaints as reported by the patient.
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