Association between Nasal Obstruction and Risk of Depression in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Objective Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with an increased risk for depression. Since nasal obstruction is a symptom of CRS that is treatable, we sought to characterize its impact on the risk for depression in CRS. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional cohort of 94 patients with CRS. Setting Academic tertiary care rhinology clinic. Subjects and Methods Patients with CRS without vasculitis, cystic fibrosis, sarcoidosis, immunodeficiency, or sinonasal malignancy. Risk for depression was assessed with the 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) while nasal obstruction was assessed with the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) instrument. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to seek association between NOSE and PHQ-2 scores. Analysis of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves defined a NOSE threshold for detecting participants with PHQ-2 greater than 1. Results Of the 94 participants, the mean NOSE score was 47.3, and 29.8% of patients had a PHQ-2 score greater than 1. We found an elevated NOSE score was associated with having a PHQ-2 score greater than 1 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05; P = .001). Alternatively, a 23-point increase in NOSE score was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in PHQ-2 score (adjusted relative risk, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03; P < .001). ROC analysis identified an optimal NOSE threshold of 42.5 for detecting participants with PHQ-2 greater than 1, with 82.1% sensitivity and 50.0% specificity. Conclusions The impact of nasal obstruction is associated with an increased risk for depression in patients with CRS. Assessing for severe nasal obstruction may help to identify those patients with CRS with the highest risk for depression.