The estimated incidence of symptomatic nasal polyps

The objective of the present study was to establish the estimated incidence of symptomatic nasal polyps within a defined geographic area. Over a 6-year period all polyp patients diagnosed for the first time (n = 252; 174 males, 78 females) were prospectively registered at the study clinic. An estimated background population from which the patients were recruited was defined. Polyps were diagnosed by endoscopic examination. The mean estimated incidences for all age groups were 0.86 and 0.39 patients per thousand per year for males and females, respectively. The incidence increased with age, reaching peaks of 1.68 and 0.82 patients per thousand per year for males and females, respectively in the age group 50-59 years. The overall estimated incidence of symptomatic nasal polyps was 0.627 patients per thousand per year. Five percent of the patients had antrochoanal polyps and these patients had a lower mean age at diagnosis than the other patients, of whom 41% also had unilateral presentation at the time of diagnosis. This study seems to give a fairly reliable estimated incidence of symptomatic nasal polyps for different age groups and provides results that do not contradict prevalence studies in the literature, making it useful in a clinical context.