Secondhand Smoke & Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Purpose Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), an inflammatory disease of the nasal cavity and sinuses, has a prevalence of 12.5% in the United States and is the second most common chronic disease, following arthritis. The role of exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) in the etiology of CRS is unclear. This study evaluates the association between SHS and CRS. Methods This study employs a case-control design with 306 cases (diagnosed 2000 to 2004) and 343 controls, all purporting not to have actively smoked in the 5 years prior to diagnosis (cases) or study entry (controls), sampled from the Henry Ford Health Systemʹs patient population. Study cases were incident cases having a minimum duration of disease of 12 weeks and had their diagnosis confirmed by computed tomography and/or radiography. Sociodemographic, medical, and exposure data were obtained from medical records and by phone interview by trained interviewers applying a structured questionnaire. SHS exposures at home, at work, in public, and at private social functions in the 5 years prior to diagnosis (cases) or study entry (controls) were queried. Data on potential confounders were collected and included exposures to chemicals, air pollution, illicit drugs, and occurrence of allergies. Analysis was carried out by multiple logistic regression and preliminary results are presented. Results Of controls and cases, 8.7% and 13.4% reported SHS exposure at home (OR = 1.61, 95% CI 0.98–2.66), 6.7% and 18.3% had exposure at work (OR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.87–5.20), 84.5% and 90.2% had exposure in public places (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.04–2.71), and 26.8% and 51.3% had exposure in private social functions (OR = 2.87, 95% CI 2.07–3.99), respectively. Adjusted for socioeconomic status (education), the odds ratios for the SHS-CRS associations remained elevated for all four sources of SHS and remained statistically significant (alpha error = 0.05) for SHS from work, public, and private social sources. Conclusion Preliminary results indicate chronic rhinosinusitis is significantly associated with exposure to secondhand smoke, an exposure that was relatively common during the study period in this population.