Seasonal Variation in Generic and Disease-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life in Rhinologic Patients in Southern Finland.

BACKGROUND

Seasonal variation in exacerbations, hospitalisations, and mortality statistics has been reported for some diseases. To our knowledge, however, no published studies exist on the seasonality of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) amongst rhinologic patients.

AIMS/OBJECTIVES: This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the possible seasonal variation in rhinologic patients' HRQoL using the rhinologic disease-specific Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) and the generic 15D HRQoL instrument.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We enrolled unselected adult rhinologic patients requiring specialist care at the Helsinki University Hospital in this cross-sectional, questionnaire-based prospective study during four seasons: February (winter), May (spring), August (summer), and November (autumn). Patients received SNOT-22 and 15D questionnaires via post. The Finnish Meteorological Institute supplied climate data from these months.

RESULTS

SNOT-22 and 15D data were available for 301 and 298 patients, respectively. We found no statistically significant differences ( = 0.948) between the mean monthly 15D scores or mean SNOT-22 scales. Furthermore, the mean SNOT-22 subscales did not differ between the monthly study periods.

CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE

Our study shows that seasonality did not impact rhinologic patients' SNOT-22 or 15D HRQoL scores. Thus, these questionnaires can be used for follow-up amongst rhinologic patients regardless of season.