Carrau et al evaluated the quality of life for patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux. Cough and throat clearing are 2 domains which may be found in a number of conditions, and the two findings tend to overlap. The authors are from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Virginia Charlottesville, Wake Forest University, Abt Associates Inc, and AstraZeneca.
The original cough domain consisted of 6 items with Likert-type responses and 1 VAS for overall effect. The original throat clearing domain consisted of 6 items with Likert-type responses and 1 VAS for overall effect.
Original cough items:
(1) cough embarrassing
(2) avoid social events
(3) need to leave room
(4) perceived as sick
(5) hear me in the halls
(6) worry about timing
Original throat clearing items:
(1) people notice
(2) disrupts sex life
(3) affects friendships
(4) makes it hart to talk
(5) frustrating frequency
(6) avoid social events
These were combined into emotional and social impact groups.
Emotional impact:
(1) embarrassment
(2) worry about timing (occur at an inopportune moment)
(3) frustration with frequency
(4) worry about being perceived as sick or unhealthy
(5) self-consciousness about being heard
I added one for worry about health.
Social impact:
(1) avoid social events
(2) adverse effect on intimacy and sex life
(3) avoid eating in public
(4) adverse effect on friendships
(5) need to leave room
(6) difficulty with talking or holding a conversation
I added one for impact on work or study under social impact.
|
Severity of Problem
|
Points
|
|
not at all
|
0
|
|
minimal
|
1
|
|
mild
|
2
|
|
moderate
|
3
|
|
moderate to marked
|
4
|
|
marked
|
5
|
|
extreme
|
6
|
The 2 VAS items for overall effect were combined in 1 scale from 0 to 10 cm.
