MONDAY, March 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Clinical signs associated with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) have been identified for patients presenting with a chief complaint of nasal allergies, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Firas A. Houssein, from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and colleagues identified predictors of CRS in patients presenting with the chief complaint of nasal allergies. A 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) was collected from all participants; a modified Lund-Kennedy endoscopy score was calculated from nasal endoscopy.

Overall, 91.3 percent of the 219 patients who were recruited were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, and 45.2 percent were also diagnosed with CRS. The researchers found that no intranasal corticosteroid use was reported for approximately half of the patients with CRS. There were significant associations for having CRS with male sex, endoscopy score, and the SNOT-22 nasal subdomain score related to SNOT-22 items: need to blow nose, thick nasal discharge, sense of taste/smell, and blockage/congestion of the nose. Statistically significant predictors of CRS included at least moderate (score ≥3) blockage/congestion of nose or thick nasal discharge, a mild (score ≥2) need to blow nose, or a very mild (score ≥1) decreased sense of taste/smell and any nasal endoscopy findings (endoscopy score ≥1).

“Moderate or severe symptoms of nasal obstruction and nasal discharge, or any symptoms of decreased sense of smell or taste should raise suspicion for CRS and prompt further evaluation, both from the perspectives of patients and health care providers,” the authors write.

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