Quality of life, disability scores, and distress index in fungal rhinosinusitis

Our goal was to determine quality of life (QOL), disability, and distress in the day-to-day lives of patients suffering from fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS) based on a prospective questionnaire. The study included 125 patients suffering from FRS, excluding those with acute fulminant FRS and any other comorbid illness. The data were compared with data for 50 age- and sex-matched controls who did not have any other chronic illness and obtained outpatient services from the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of our institute. Analysis showed that patients with FRS had worse QOL, with an average score of 87.34 compared with 94.15 for the control group. QOL score further decreased to 85.31 for patients with extensive disease that included intracranial or intraorbital extension and to 71.1 in those with recurrent disease. Patients showed significant disability and had decreased work efficiency in disability parameters. Distress among these patients was also greater and further increased in those with extensive disease or recurrence. We conclude that patients with FRS have worse QOL, more disability, and more distress compared with age- and sex-matched controls. This issue needs to be addressed while treating cases of FRS.