49 The Otology Questionnaire Amsterdam: a generic patient reported outcome measure about the severity and impact of ear complaints 3 Introduction Like in many disciplines in medicine, in the domain of otolaryngology, it is crucial that relevant and validated measurement instruments are available for the monitoring of disease progression and treatment effectiveness. Along with the increased focus on patient centred medicine, the interest in subjective measurement of complaints has increased. Subjective measurements can provide valuable. information about the way patients are experiencing their complaints and can be used in addition to objective tests like audiometric data. A useful tool in assessing subjective complaints is a patient reported outcome measure (PROM). Usually, this is a questionnaire completed by the patient 1. Over the years, many PROMs about ear complaints have been developed. Currently, the use of these PROMs in the ENT clinic is limited. This might be due to the fact that most of the existing PROMs are either symptom-specific (e.g. SSQ2 and THI3) or disease-specific (e.g. COMQ-124 and MDPOSI5). However, patients visiting an ENT surgeon often report multiple ear complaints simultaneously. The use of multiple questionnaires per patient seems impractical in the outpatient clinic. Therefore, a PROM that addresses all relevant types of ear complaints is desirable in the outpatient clinic. This paper describes the development of the ‘Otology Questionnaire Amsterdam’ (OQUA), a generic PROM addressing the severity of ear complaints and their impact on daily life. The OQUA can be used in the outpatient ENT clinic. Material and Methods Ethical considerations The study protocol was assessed by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of VU University Medical Centre, Erasmus Medical Centre, Isala and Amstelland hospital which led to the decision that the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act did not apply to this study. Written informed consent was obtained prior to study participation. All questionnaires were completed anonymously. Participants Patients visiting an ENT surgeon with an ear complaint were recruited in two secondary (Isala and Amstelland hospital) and two tertiary (Amsterdam University Medical Centre and Erasmus Medical Centre) clinics, all located in the Netherlands. Patients were eligible to participate if they were 16 years and over, had an ear
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