title: Influence of age and gender in the normal values of Sino Nasal Outcome Test-22.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sino Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT)-22 is a disease-specific outcomes measure questionnaire that combines rhinologic issues with general health issues. These issues may have variable weight on quality of life perception, and the influence of several factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, socio-cultural status and co-morbidities is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of gender and age on normal values of SNOT-22.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study based on application of SNOT-22 questionnaires to healthy volunteers. Participants were divided according to gender, and each gender was subdivided into age groups: 18-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years, 51-60 years and over 60 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rhinology Section, Sao Paulo Federal University.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 539 healthy volunteers (253 men and 286 women) were selected, so that each age group of each gender consisted of at least 50 individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  We applied SNOT-22 questionnaire to volunteers with no nasal or sinus disease. Median of score distribution was used as normal reference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men presented lower scores than women (7 versus 9, P = 0.005). Subjects over 60 years presented significantly lower scores than other age groups (18-30 years = 10; 31-40 years = 8; 41-50 years = 9; 51-60 years = 9; over 60 years = 7). Men presented lower scores than women especially in 41-50 year and 51-60 year groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Men and elderly presented the lowest Brazilian version SNOT-22 scores. The range of 0-8 points seemed to be more suitable as a normal value for this instrument, but this cut-off score could be tailored to age and gender specificities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, UNIFESP-EPM, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Gregório
authors.forename: J S C
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Caparroz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saraceni Neto
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kosugi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose / Q000502:physiology*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult