The quality of life of patients with deviated nose septum before and after surgical treatment

Introduction
Deviated nose septum disturbs the proper functioning of patients in many areas of life by impaired nasal function and numerous complaints such as nasal obstruction, headaches, rhinitis, and recurrent infections. The aim of the study was to analyse the quality of life of patients with deviated nose septum before and after surgical treatment.

Material and methods
The study involved 40 randomly selected patients of both sexes with deviated nose septum from the otolaryngology ward in one of Warsaw’s hospitals, who agreed to participate in the study. To validate the quality of patients’ life the author’s questionnaire and abbreviated version of the Life Quality Assessment Questionnaire (WHOQOL – BREF) were used before and after surgical treatment.

Results
The patients who underwent the surgical procedure to eliminate side effects of deviated septum declared improvement in quality of life. Improvements after the surgery were observed in terms of the following: the occurrence of infections – decrease in 75% of patients, in the case of sleep quality more than 90% of respondents declared improvement, and in relation to physical activity – 74.3% of respondents noticed an improvement. However, an improvement in the sense of smell was not reported after septoplasty. The assessment of the quality of life according to gender showed no statistically significant differences between women and men.

Conclusions
Surgery of deviated nose septum is an effective method of treating this condition. Thanks to septoplasty, the quality of patients’ life and their nose function significantly improved.