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Smoking: An independent risk factor for lost productivity in chronic rhinosinusitis
Author(s) -
Campbell Adam P.,
Hoehle Lloyd P.,
Phillips Katie M.,
Caradonna David S.,
Gray Stacey T.,
Sedaghat Ahmad R.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.26548
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic rhinosinusitis , confidence interval , cohort , productivity , cohort study , prospective cohort study , risk factor , univariate analysis , demography , multivariate analysis , economics , macroeconomics , sociology
Objectives/Hypothesis Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with a significant loss of patient productivity that costs billions of dollars every year. Smoking is associated with worsening sinonasal symptoms, but its effect on lost productivity in CRS patients has yet to be described. Therefore, we sought to determine the association between smoking and productivity in patients with CRS. Study Design Prospective cross‐sectional cohort study of 140 patients with CRS. Methods Sinonasal symptom severity was measured using the 22‐item Sino‐Nasal Outcomes Test. Lost productivity was assessed by asking participants how many days of work and/or school they missed in the last 3 months due to CRS. Associations were sought between lost productivity and smoking. Results Participants missed a mean of 3.0 days (standard deviation = 12.8 days) of work or school due to CRS. Having any history of smoking was associated with 6 days of lost productivity due to CRS (adjusted β = 6.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64 to 11.77, P = .031). Although the number of active smokers in our study cohort was very small (N = 6), we performed a univariate association between smoking status, considering former smokers and active smokers separately, and found that active smoking (β = 11.75, 95% CI: 2.11 to 21.40, P = .018) had a much larger impact on CRS‐related productivity loss than that experienced by former smokers (β = 4.45, 95% CI: −0.32 to 9.23, P = .070). Conclusions Smoking (likely driven by active smoking) is independently associated with missed days of work or school in patients with CRS. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions directed at smoking may impact CRS‐related productivity loss. Level of Evidence 2c Laryngoscope , 127:1742–1745, 2017