Symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis differentially impact general health-related quality of life.
The degree to which different sinonasal symptoms contribute to the overall quality of life (QOL) detriment in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients remains unknown. In this study we sought to characterize the effect of different CRS symptoms on the general health-related QOL in patients.



We performed a prospective cross-sectional study of 131 adult patients with CRS. Sinonasal symptoms were evaluated using the 22-item Sinonasal Outcomes Test (SNOT-22) and general health-related QOL was evaluated using the EuroQol 5-Dimensional general health-related QOL survey (EQ5D) and visual analog scale (EQ5D-VAS). Health utility values (HUV) were determined using responses to the EQ5D. SNOT-22 scores were broken down into subdomain scores for sleep, nasal, otologic/facial pain and emotional function symptoms.



The otologic/facial pain subdomain score consistently had the largest impact on EQ5D-VAS and HUV. After otologic/facial pain, the sleep subdomain score had the second largest effect while the nasal subdomain score had the least impact on general health-related QOL.



Different types of CRS symptoms - most prominently otologic/facial pain and sleep-related symptoms - and their underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms may differentially affect the general health-related QOL detriment associated with CRS. These findings raise the possibility that treatment of the various symptoms associated with CRS may lead to differential improvement in general-health related QOL.
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
L P
LP
Hoehle
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
K M
KM
Phillips
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
R W
RW
Bergmark
Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
D S
DS
Caradonna
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
S T
ST
Gray
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
A R
AR
Sedaghat
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012912:Sneezing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires