Prevalence and Identification of Nasal Airway Obstruction in Patients Presenting to Otolaryngology Clinics: Results From a Large Descriptive Practice Survey.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional descriptive survey
PubMed 37705360 · doi:10.1177/01455613231196670
What was done
Clinic staff across 149 US otolaryngology clinics administered the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale to 3,533 patients presenting over a 1-week period, regardless of their visit reason. Data on primary visit complaint ("NAO", "Sinus", or "Other") and NOSE scores were collected and analyzed descriptively.
What was found
The overall mean NOSE score across all 3,533 patients was 37.6 (SD 31.5), with 37.4% (1,320/3,533) reporting severe or extreme NAO symptoms. By visit reason: - "Other": 61.2% (2,162/3,533) of visits; mean score 23.4 (SD 25.9); 17.8% (384/2,162) had moderate to severe/extreme symptoms. - "NAO": 22.6% (798/3,533) of visits; mean score 64.7 (SD 23.3); 76.2% (608/798) had severe or extreme symptoms. - "Sinus": 16.2% (573/3,533) of visits; mean score 53.3 (SD 28.1); 57.2% (328/573) had severe or extreme symptoms.
Why it matters
This study shows that symptomatic nasal airway obstruction is prevalent in general ENT clinics, even among patients presenting for unrelated reasons, suggesting routine screening could capture underrecognized cases.
Limits
The study is a cross-sectional survey restricted to a 1-week window in specialty otolaryngology practices, limiting generalizability to primary care or the general population. Nasal obstruction was assessed entirely by self-reported NOSE score without objective physiological measures or confirmatory physical examination data reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- context Approximately 75% of people in the United States have upper airway restriction from the tip of the nose through the sinus system.