Introduction
Paranasal sinusitis refers to inflammation of the paranasal sinuses as a result of either infectious or noninfectious causes, and it is frequently encountered in clinical practice. Although paranasal sinusitis is not a life-threatening disease, it can have a substantial impact on health-related quality of life1 and, concurrently, increase the personal and social economic burden due to the relatively high cost of treatment2, 3.
On the one hand, according to previous studies, the prevalence and patterns of sinusitis may vary by region and population and may change with the course of time 4-7. However, these studies diagnosed chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) based on standardized surveys that may have introduced subjective bias to the results. Additionally, individuals with asymptomatic sinusitis are likely to be overlooked in such studies. On the other hand, many population-based studies have determined smoking to be an important independent risk factor for the development of CRS 8-10. A recent study investigating 37 753 people in Korea found that, for every year of active smoking, the prevalence of self-reported CRS increases by 1.5 %10. However, few studies have compared the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of sinusitis between smokers and non-smokers. In addition, because smoking may cause symptoms that are similar to those of sinusitis, studying the relationship between smoking and sinusitis from the perspective of symptoms alone is challenging.
Meanwhile, with the application of imaging techniques, the high incidence of incidental findings of sinus abnormalities across all age groups has attracted attention 11-13. A recent report described a case of asymptomatic sinusitis with a potential glomerulonephritis-related origin 14. Previous studies have confirmed that imaging findings are significantly related to symptoms presented in patients with paranasal sinusitis15-17. Compared to computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not use radiation and, additionally, does not overstage or overclassify patients with sinus disease18. Therefore, the clinical application of MRI could provide an ideal method for the objective detection of paranasal sinusitis in the general population.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among individuals from two communities in Shanghai, China. This study aimed to provide objective and reliable data on the prevalence of paranasal sinusitis detected by MRI and to determine the effects of smoking on paranasal sinusitis in a large population.