Proximity to traffic is associated with worse symptom severity in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal...

Environmental exposures may be associated with increased severity of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). However, research examining associations of traffic related air pollution with CRS is limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between residential traffic proximity and CRS with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) severity in an existing database of adults in the United States.

This study was conducted on data gathered from 181 participants documented in the NAVIGATE I and NAVIGATE II randomized control trials within the OPTINOSE database. Zip codes for the testing locations of each participant were recorded and EPA traffic proximity data was extracted for each location. Traffic proximity was defined as the average annual daily traffic at major roads within the zip code. SNOT-22 scores were assessed as a measure of CRSwNP severity. The association between traffic proximity and SNOT-22 scores were determined using multiple linear regression.

There were 81 female and 100 male participants. The majority of participants were White not Hispanic (84.5 %). On adjusted regression, there was a weak but significant direct association of increased traffic proximity with SNOT-22 scores (β: 0.003; 95 % CI: 0.0003, 0.006; p = 0.03).

Increasing traffic proximity, suggestive of exposure to higher levels of pollution, was significantly associated with increased severity of CRSwNP. These findings suggest that pollutant exposure should be considered in CRS assessment and management. Future prospective studies on the association of traffic related air pollution and how pollutants affect symptom severity, may help to better elucidate the role the environment has in CRS.