OMS and RS are the main types of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and significantly impact health-related quality of life (HRQL). Still, the difference in HRQL and symptom presentation between them has not been specifically evaluated to date.

We aimed to compare patterns of symptoms and HRQL disease-specific domains in patients affected by these two CRS types.

Data sets were analyzed using PCA to identify a set of symptom components, and the items excluded from PCA, then analyzed for differences between patients with OMS and RS.

Sneezing was excluded from PCA and treated as the separate outcome variable and was significantly worse in RS patients. Patients with OMS scored considerably higher scores concerning emotional disturbance, while RS patients scored significantly worse in sleep and functional disorder. The different symptom “malodor” was the most different symptom and was substantially worse in OMS patients. The total SNOT-22 score was not significantly different between the groups.

This study showed some significant differences in symptom patterns and HRQL impairment between patients with OMS and RS with controlling covariates that may influence the severity of the disease. Malodor is the most characteristic feature of OMS. 

Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1945892418804975

Author