Relationship between rhinosinusitis symptoms and mucociliary clearance time.

Abstract

To determine the correlation between rhinosinusitis symptoms as assessed by the Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test-20 (SNOT-20) and mucociliary clearance as assessed by the saccharin method. This was a cross-sectional study of 50 adult volunteers. Subjects completed the SNOT-20, and mucociliary clearance was determined with the saccharine method. Correlation coefficients (Spearman's Rho) were calculated for the global SNOT-20 score. The SNOT-20 scores varied from 20 to 54 (mean 30.28) with a possible range of 20 to 100. Clearance times varied from 418 to 2865 seconds (mean 999). There was no significant correlation between global SNOT-20 score and clearance time (r = 0.196). There is no significant correlation between rhinosinusitis symptoms as assessed by SNOT-20 scores and mucociliary clearance. Mucociliary clearance is important for the health of the sinonasal cavities, but clearance time does not appear to be associated with symptom severity in the population studied. A-1b.