Instrument developed to assess quality of life in Meniere disease

A brief, valid instrument has been developed for assessing quality of life in Meniere disease, according to a study published online April 30 in The Laryngoscope.

Alexandra E. Quimby, M.D., M.P.H., from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues created a 24-item Meniere disease quality of life (MenQOL) instrument using a sequential process of expert input, patient focus groups, and analyses of responses to draft questionnaires.

The MenQOL and Short-Form-36 version 2 (SF-36v2) were administered to 50 patients with Meniere disease and 60 patients with tinnitus, vertigo, or hearing loss from other causes.

The researchers found that the MenQOL has a single domain based on exploratory factor analysis. For the instrument as a whole, a Cronbach’s α score of 0.914 indicated high internal consistency. Relative to comparison patients, patients with Meniere disease had significantly worse quality of life based on mean MenQOL scores (52.5 ± 15.8 versus 43.2 ± 12.6), indicating good construct validity.

In bivariate linear regressions, significant inverse relationships were seen between total MenQOL scores and SF-36v2 physical and mental composite scores, indicating acceptable concurrent validity (slopes, −0.94 and −1.16, respectively).

“Subsequent to further study confirming validity and examining changes over time and in response to treatment, we hope that the instrument may become a widely adopted disease-specific QOL scale for use in Meniere disease,” the authors write.

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