Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey (SCHNOS) in Chinese

Background: Rhinoplasty requires balanced consideration of function and aesthetics, necessitating a precise evaluation tool. A reliable and validated patient-reported measure, the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey (SCHNOS) evaluates both aspects but was previously unavailable in Chinese. This study fills that gap by providing a Chinese version.

Objectives: In this study we aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate a Chinese iteration of the SCHNOS (C-SCHNOS) for appraising the functional and aesthetic outcomes among Chinese patients following rhinoplasty, furnishing a reliable and efficacious assessment tool for Chinese users.

Methods: Following international guidelines, the SCHNOS questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted for Chinese use. Its psychometric properties, including internal consistency, correlations, and reproducibility, were evaluated among Chinese natives in Sichuan Province from March 2022 to January 2023.

Results: The C-SCHNOS was administered to 110 Chinese natives, showing high internal consistency, with Cronbach's α of 0.81 for SCHNOS-O (obstructive domain) and 0.92 for SCHNOS-C (cosmetic domain). Spearman correlations for SCHNOS-O (0.36-0.65) and SCHNOS-C (0.51-0.74) were positive and significant. Test-retest reliability analyses revealed strong Spearman correlations for SCHNOS-O (r = 0.87) and SCHNOS-C (r = 0.90). Responsiveness was statistically significant for SCHNOS-O (P < .001) but not for SCHNOS-C (P = .222). Exploratory factor analysis and parallel tests indicated that C-SCHNOS maintained a single-factor structure, with eigenvalues exceeding the critical values (2.55 for SCHNOS-O and 4.35 for SCHNOS-C), reflecting excellent unidimensionality.

Conclusions: The SCHNOS questionnaire was successfully translated into Chinese and culturally adapted. The C-SCHNOS is a dependable and valid instrument for utilization in the Chinese population in patients undergoing functional or cosmetic rhinoplasty.