The GBI, developed to assess benefits after otorhinolaryngology procedures, poses questions about physical and psychosocial outcomes. These questions include the following:
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March 2022- Have the results of the laryngochondroplasty affected your daily activities?
- Have the results of the laryngochondroplasty made your overall life better or worse?
- Since you have had the laryngochondroplasty, have you felt more or less embarrassed when with a group of people?
- Since you have had the laryngochondroplasty, do you feel more or less support from your friends?
- Since you have had the laryngochondroplasty, do you catch colds more or less often?
- Since you have had the laryngochondroplasty, do you feel better or worse about yourself?
Patients give one of five responses to these questions, such as “much more,” “more,” “no change,” “less,” or “much less.”
The overall score on the GBI was 41.95 (95% CI: 39.34-44.56), “suggesting that there is a statistically significant improvement in the quality of life after laryngochondroplasty,” Dr. Tang said. “There was a greater benefit for the general subscore, but less benefit for the social and physical health subscores. Nonetheless, all the subscores had a 95% confidence interval showing a positive benefit.”
The subscore for general benefit was 60.75 (95% CI: 57.75-63.75), the social subscore was 16.89 (95% CI: 11.77- 22.01), and the physical health subscore 4.33 (95% CI: 0.97-7.69).
Dr. Tang noted some limitations. The questionnaire is given after the procedures, so there could have been a retrospective bias, he said. Only the transcervical technique was evaluated, and there are several other approaches that can be used, which would change the location of the scar. In addition, the results “might not be generalizable to the submental or intraoral approach.”
There was also a big range on the time to follow-up—from 26 to 1,544 days—so the responses could have varied depending on how soon a given patient completed the questionnaire. “If you see someone a month after surgery versus four years postsurgery, it’s quite different,” he said.
“Although the GBI is widely accepted in otolaryngology, it’s inherently limited since it utilizes a five-point, Likert-type scale instead of a continuous scale, like [the one used in a] visual-analog scale,” Dr. Tang said.
Still, the results should be encouraging for use of the procedure, he said. “Laryngochondroplasty has been performed for over 40 years,” said Dr. Tang. “It’s a safe procedure with excellent outcomes that greatly increase patients’ quality of life and is of great benefit to them, according to the Glasgow-Benefit index.”