Impact of age on outcomes following endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common condition that affects people of all ages and negatively impacts quality of life. The goal of this study was to identify differences in outcomes by age following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for CRS utilizing 22‐item Sino‐Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT‐22) scores. Methods Data from 1252 adult CRS patients electing to undergo ESS (2007‐2018) were collected retrospectively. The median age of 50 years was used to divide the data into 2 groups for comparison of the impact of age on SNOT‐22 scores at 0, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Changes in SNOT‐22 scores were analyzed using a mixed models analysis. Results After adjusting for gender, race, polyp status, and number of prior ESSs, patients younger than 50 years had a higher mean pre‐ESS SNOT‐22 score (44.0) compared to those of at least 50 years of age (38.9). Among patients younger than 50 years, SNOT‐22 scores declined by 20.7 points at 3 months post‐ESS and 16.1 points at 6 months post‐ESS. The rate of change between the dichotomized age groups was not significantly different at 3 and 6 months post‐ESS ( p = 0.7952 and p = 0.1057, respectively). Conclusion Both age groups showed significant and durable improvement in SNOT‐22 scores after ESS. Patients younger than 50 years of age have higher pre‐ESS SNOT‐22 scores, but converge to the same SNOT‐22 scores by 3 months post‐ESS. The rate of change of SNOT‐22 scores is not different between those younger than 50 years and those of at least 50 years.