Prevalence and Risk Factors of Chronic Rhinosinusitis in the Elderly Population of Korea

Background: Although a significant number of the clinical features and pathophysiologic mechanisms of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) have been described, only a few studies have been published on characterization of CRS in the field of aging.

Objective: We investigated the prevalence and risk factors of CRS in elderly (≥65 years old) Koreans using large-scale nationwide epidemiological data and compared the risk factors of elderly with those of younger adult participants (19-64 years old).

Methods: Data from 25 529 participants who completed the 2008-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Diagnosis of CRS was done according to the EP3OS 2012 guideline for epidemiologic study. Risk factors of CRS were compared in the aspects of sociodemographics, general health behaviors, clinical characteristics, and comorbidities of participants.

Results: The prevalence of CRS was significantly higher in 5590 elderly than in 19 939 younger adults (6.55% vs 5.69%; P = .016. Some variables of socioeconomic status and mental health in the adult group were associated with increased risk of CRS but did not show association in the elderly group. We observed a significant association between CRS prevalence and comorbid allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in both groups ( P < .05). However, in the elderly group, the associations were significantly weaker with regard to allergic rhinitis ( P-interaction = .03) and asthma ( P-interaction = .002).

Conclusion: These results suggest that elderly populations have distinct pathophysiology and clinical presentations from adult CRS, and management for elderly patients with CRS may require different or additional therapeutic approaches.