PANQOL Questionnaire: Quality of life after translabyrinth removal of vestibularschwannoma

Introduction:

The assessment of quality of life (QOL) can be essential in the treatment of patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS). The disease-specific questionnaire "Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality-of-Life Scale" covers the areas of balance, hearing, limitations of the facial nerve, anxiety, vitality, pain, as well as general health. Before using the questionnaire in German it is necessary, to translate and to evaluate the reliability and validity.

Material and method: The translated version of the German PANQOL was completed by 72 patients after translabyrinth removal of a VS. In addition to the evaluation of the QOL, the statistical analysis of the reliability and convergent validity was carried out.

Result: Cronbach's alpha and Guttman's split half show values> 0.79 (raw alpha) and> 0.76 (Lambda 6). The average PANQOL overall score for postoperative QOL is 61.96/100. Lowest values are reached for hearing (50.87) and balance (50.98). The convergent validity shows significant values (p < 0.001) for facial paralysis and dizziness. Neither the size of the tumor nor the postoperatively elapsed time have a significant influence on the quality of life.

Conclusion:

The German version of the PANQOL shows comparable values as the English original version with regard to reliability and convergent validity. Some patients show a reduced quality of life after removal of a VS, so that psychosomatic care should be considered if necessary.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)