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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Symptom Assessment of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis Using an Allergen Exposure Chamber
Published on: March 3, 2023
Objective versus subjective outcomes assessment in rhinology
Michael G Stewart1, Timothy L Smith
1The Bobby R. Alford Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Background:
Prior studies on the relationship between computed tomography scan findings and patient-based quality of life in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) have found very low correlations. Whereas surprising, similarfindings have been noted in other diseases.
Methods:
We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the association between objective and subjective findings in nasal septal deformity and a systematic review and synthesis of the literature on CRS and other diseases.
Results:
We found no association between objective anatomic findings and subjective symptoms in nasal obstruction (R = 0.03; Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.97). Multiple studies in CRS and other diseases-sleep apnea, hearing loss, asthma, etc.- have found similarly low correlations between objective and subjective testing.
Conclusion:
For nasal septal deviation and CRS, the patient's subjective perception of disease severity has, at best, a very weak association with objective assessment of severity. Patient-based outcomes assessment remains important; these instruments apparently quantify an aspect of disease not detected by objective testing.
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