The Prevalence of Rhinosinusitis Disease among Asthma Patients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Asthma and rhinosinusitis share the same pathophysiological mechanism and often occur together. The root cause of chronic rhinosinusitis is still a challenge to cure, but its clinical symptoms can be improved by symptomatic treatment, also considered asthma symptom relievers. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of asthma with rhinosinusitis among adult patients in Saudi Arabia, as there have been limited studies that assessed this objective. Methods: This study is a retrospective cross-sectional study. The data was collected from a selected hospital from 2016 to 2019. The inclusion criteria were patients with a confirmed diagnosis of asthma and rhinosinusitis aged 18 years and older. Results: The prevalence of rhinosinusitis among asthma patients was 0.30% in a total of 1,688 asthmatic patients, and 1683 patients had asthma without rhinosinusitis (99.7%). Females accounted for 67.7% of the patients, while males accounted for 32.3%. Most of the asthma patients (56%) were 60 or older, and 44% were between 18 and 59 years old. Asthma patients with a past medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) accounted for 2.3% of the patients. Moreover, 1.9% of the asthma patients had bronchiectasis. The majority of the asthma patients (79%) had an unknown allergic status, while 21% had allergies. The smoking status variable revealed that 3.1% of the asthma patients were smokers. Conclusion: The prevalence of rhinosinusitis among asthma patients was considered low.