Prevalence of nasal polyps in Northern Portugal: a cadaver endoscopic study

Epidemiology of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Knowledge of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) epidemiology may directly impact patient care: aiding patient identification and establishing accurate diagnosis as well as informing treatment decisions. The objective of this review is to summarize the current evidence on the epidemiology of CRS, with a focus on prevalence and risk factors. Although the presence of either symptoms or objective findings alone have yielded CRS prevalence estimates of over 10%, the presence of both-consistent with guideline-based diagnostic criteria for CRS-has suggested that the true prevalence of CRS is consistently less than 5%, with approximately one-third of patients with CRS having nasal polyps, in epidemiologic studies from around the world. In comparison, the prevalence of CRS endotypes-pathophysiologic subclassification of CRS most commonly as related to type 2 or non-type 2 inflammation-has been found to vary significantly by region. The epidemiology of CRS is modified and ultimately determined by risk factors: genetic/hereditary, demographic, environmental, and imparted by predictive pre-/comorbid disease. The understanding of these epidemiologic relationships may help the provider to optimally identify and understand each individual's CRS disease process, thereby improving both diagnosis and treatment.

Rhinosinusitis in morbidity registrations in Dutch General Practice: a retro-spective case-control study

Background

There is only limited accurate data on the epidemiology of rhinosinusitis in primary care.

This study was conducted to assess the incidence of acute and chronic rhinosinusitis by analysing data from two Dutch general practice registration projects. Several patient characteristics and diseases are related to the diagnosis rhinosinusitis.

Methods

The Continuous Morbidity Registration (CMR) and the Transitionproject (TP) are used to analyse the data on rhinosinusitis in primary practice. Both registries use codes to register diagnoses.

Results

In the CMR 3244 patients are registered with rhinosinusitis and in the TP 5424 CMR: The absolute incidence of (acute) rhinosinusitis is 5191 (18.8 per 1000 patient years). Regarding an odds ratio of 5.58, having nasal polyps is strongest related to rhinosinusitis compared to the other evaluated comorbidities. A separate code for chronic rhinosinusitis exists, but is not in use.

TP: Acute and chronic rhinosinusitis are coded as one diagnosis. The incidence of rhinosinusitis is 5574 or 28.7 per 1000 patient years. Patients who visit their general practitioner with “symptoms/complaints of sinus”, allergic rhinitis and “other diseases of the respiratory system” have the highest chances to be diagnosed with rhinosinusitis. Medication is prescribed in 90.6 % of the cases.

Conclusions

Rhinosinusitis is a common diagnosis in primary practice. In the used registries no difference could be made between acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, but they give insight in comorbidity and interventions taken by the GP in case of rhinosinusitis.