What do we mean when we have a “sinus infection?”

Abstract

Introduction Sinus infections are a common reason patients seek medical care. However, the intended meaning of the term sinus infection among patients and otolaryngologists is incompletely understood. Methods In this multi‐institutional cross‐sectional study, a semantics‐based questionnaire was provided to consecutive patients presenting to otolaryngology clinics at six academic centers from June 2020 until May 2021. The primary outcome was respondent definitions for sinus infection from a list of 28 proposed terms covering six general categories. Secondary outcome measures included differences between geographic regions. Results Responses were obtained from 560 patients (54% female, mean age 48.9 years) and 29 otolaryngologists (42% female, mean age 37.4 years). Patients and otolaryngologists selected a median of 10 and 11 terms, respectively, to define a sinus infection. Among patients the most frequently selected symptom categories were mucus (500, 89.3%), pressure/pain (480, 85.7%), and airflow (468, 83.6%). Compared to patients, clinicians selected with greater frequency the symptom categories of pressure/pain (14.3% difference; 95% CI, 7.6% to 22.5%), mucus (10.7% difference; 95% CI, 4.7% to 18.3%) and airflow (13.0% difference; 95% CI, 4.8% to 21.7%). Multiple categories were selected by 96% of patients and 100% of providers. Conclusion The definition of sinus infection appears variable for both patients and otolaryngologists, though patients appear to apply a broader range of symptoms to the term sinus infection. There were no pronounced geographic differences in the description of a sinus infection in this US sample population. Patients commonly described sinus infection in the context of pain‐related symptoms. Appreciation of these semantic differences may enable more effective patient‐clinician communication.

Longitudinal analysis of twitter trends for sinusitis

“…Notably, the quantity of hashtags used by HA was nearly as many as GPA, even though the number of HA tweets was significantly less, which may be related to HA users applying hashtags to garner exposure. Another observation from the trending terms of GPA tweets showed a higher number of layman's terms for common conditions associated with sinusitis such as “ear infection” and “hay fever,” whereas HA used medical terminology such as “otitis media” and “allergic rhinitis.” 10 …”

“…Another observation from the trending terms of GPA tweets showed a higher number of layman's terms for common conditions associated with sinusitis such as "ear infection" and "hay fever," whereas HA used medical terminology such as "otitis media" and "allergic rhinitis." 10 The percentage of positive tweets within each year was often much higher for HA than GPA. Patients are more likely to speak about negative experiences with symptoms and QOL, whereas HA generally speak about treatment and symptom improvement.…”

How Do Patients and Otolaryngologists Define Dizziness?

“…Prior studies have demonstrated significant differences between patients and clinicians in the verbiage used to describe other common otolaryngologic complaints such as congestion, 7,8 reflux, 9 and sinus infections. 10,11 Dizziness has also been previously evaluated at a single institution, where there was found to be significant differences in how patients and clinicians define this common complaint. 12 No multi-institutional study has been conducted to date on the topic.…”

Are you congested? A comparison of definitions between otolaryngologists and their patients

“…Otolaryngology 7 and rhinology patients 8 appear to have high levels of health literacy. Other otolaryngologic complaints such as dizziness 9 and sinus infections 10 have demonstrated significant variability in interpretation of common symptoms between clinicians and patients.…”