Development and Modification of an Outcome Measure to Follow Symptoms of Children with Sinusitis

Abstract

Objective: To develop a parent-reported Pediatric Rhinosinusitis Symptom Scale (PRSS) that could be used to monitor symptoms of young children with acute sinusitis in response to therapy.

Study design: We developed an 8-item symptom severity scale and evaluated its internal reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness in children 2-12 years of age with acute sinusitis. Parents of 258 children with acute sinusitis completed the PRSS at the time of diagnosis, as a diary at home, and at the follow-up visit at days 10-12. Based on psychometric results and additional parent feedback, we revised the scale. We evaluated the revised version in 185 children with acute sinusitis.

Results: Correlations between the scale and reference measures on the day of enrollment were in the expected direction and of the expected magnitude. PRSS scores at the time of presentation correlated with radiographic findings (P < .001), functional status (P < .001), and parental assessment of overall symptom severity (P < .001). Responsiveness (standardized response mean) and test-retest reliability of the revised scale were good (2.17 and 0.75, respectively).

Conclusions: We have developed an outcome measure to track the symptoms of acute sinusitis. Data presented here support the use of the PRSS as a measure of change in symptom burden in clinical trials of children with acute sinusitis.

Keywords: outcome measure; parent-reported outcome measure; pediatrics; sinusitis; symptoms.