Rhinoplasty Health Inventory and Nasal Outcomes (RHINO) scale: Translation, Cross-cultural adaptation and Validation for Hebrew-speaking patients.

BACKGROUND: Patient reported outcomes questionnaires are accepted measurement tools to evaluate procedures results. The Rhinoplasty Health Inventory and Nasal Outcomes (RHINO) scale is an English-language validated and reliable quality-of-life instrument that evaluates both functional and aesthetic outcomes after rhinoplasty, and is not available in Hebrew.

METHODS: We followed the forward-and-back-translation method, defined by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Translation of RHINO-scale and merging it into one version was made, following back-translation and validation on native Hebrew-speaking patients who underwent rhinoplasty and control healthy group. Lastly, we review and analyzed the results.

RESULTS: The translated questionnaire had high reliability measures, demonstrating homogeneity (alpha value 0.800 in the rhinoplasty group and 0.896 in the control group), test-retest reproducibility with no significant difference (P = 0.5), and high agreement scores represented by the Bland-Altman plot (95% limits of agreement ranged from 8.78 to 9.80). Validity demonstrated by significant differences between the two study groups mean questionnaire scores (P < 0.001 for rhinoplasty vs controls, P < 0.001 for preoperative vs postoperative, and P = 0.002 for postoperative vs control group) and also between the aesthetic scores and functional scores of the rhinoplasty group before and after the surgery (P < 0.001). There were no reported understanding problems. Conclusions The Hebrew version of the RHINO scale is a reliable and valid tool for pre- and post rhinoplasty surgery outcomes measuring among Hebrew-speaking patients, and can improve coordination of expectations, follow-up and quantify subjective evaluation of the surgery.