Results

There were 149 Fifth Sense members who responded to the survey; of these 127 declared they had experienced PIOD. In the 127 PIOD respondents, 13 reported both CRS and AR, 18 just AR and 13 just CRS. Seven reported a severe septal deviation. The age range was 28-85 with a mean of 57 ±11. The duration of their disorder was less than 5 years in 63% of cases, with 64% reporting the presence of parosmia. In terms of treatment received, 50% had not received any treatment at all from their GP or ENT specialist; 24 members reported they were currently using nasal medications. Prior medication use included oral and intra-nasal corticosteroids (OCS, INCS) as the most commonly given in 28% (n=36). Additionally, antibiotics were received by some patients despite a lack of evidence to support this. Figure 1 shows the treatments reported by respondents (some respondents reported more than one treatment). Twenty-four patients (without other reported sinonasal disorders) (19%) also reported having undergone an MRI and/or CT scans, neither of which are indicated if the history is clear and endoscopy shows no evidence of intranasal pathology.

Quotations from survey participants

Participants were asked to leave comments and many did. Here are a few examples: