Lithuanian version of nasolacrimal duct obstruction symptom scoring (NLDO-SS) questionnaire. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation

Abstract

Nasolacrimal duct obstruction (NLDO) is the leading cause of epiphora causing social embarrassment and decreasing quality of life. Endoscopic endonasal dacriorhynocystotomy (EE-DCRS) is a useful technique of treatment of these patients. There are few questionnaires that have been introduced for assessing patients with NLDO, though none of them is generally accepted for patients undergoing surgical treatment. A new questionnaire was introduced in Finland by E.Panttila et al in 2014.for assessing patients with NLDO before and after the surgical treatment. A new questionnaire was introduced in Finland by E.Panttila in 2014. The aim of our work was to validate and adapt this questionnaire in Lithuanian language. With the agreement from original questionnaire authors it was translated to Lithuanian language from the original and to English from Lithuanian. It was tested with 35 patients and the final questionnaire was prepared. Patients with NLDO undergoing primary surgery from January 1st to September 1st were included in this study (data is still being gathered). The internal consistency of questionnaire was calculated to be >0,7, the stability in time was >0,8 within all symptoms. The results after treatment were investigated after 2 months and symptoms statistically significantly differed from before treatment. We conclude that questionnaire was translated and validated and adopted according to international recommendations and questionnaire itself is a useful tool to select proper patients for EE-DCRS and to measure the success rate of the procedure.