Clinical outcomes in patients with chronic sinusitis.

Although sinusitis is one of the most common chronic illnesses in this country, relatively little is known about the effect of this disease or its treatment on quality of life. In a series of studies utilizing both disease-specific and general health instruments, patients with chronic sinusitis were found to have significant decrements in several subscales of general health, including bodily pain and social functioning (P<.05), compared with the general US population. Surgery for sinus disease was shown to result in significant reduction in both symptoms and medication usage (P<.05) after 12 months. These same outcome instruments can be used by health care providers to document clinical outcomes in similar populations of patients with chronic sinusitis.