The Evaluation of Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Nasal Geometry Using Objective and Subjective Methods

Abstract

Introduction:It is known that obesity causes obstructive sleep apnea syndrome by increasing upper airway resistance. Also, obese patients are admitted to the ear, nose, and throat clinic very often because of nasal obstruction complaint. The aim of this study is to identify the change and relation among body mass index (BMI), nasal resistance, reduction in nasal ariflow, nasal anatomy, and patients' subjective complaints.Material and Method:A total of 67 patients admitted to our clinic between August 2013 and January 2014 were included in the study.The study group comprised 33 patients who had a chief complaintnasal obstruction and the other group consisted of 34 patients who had no complaint and nasal pathology. Both the groups were checked with acoustic rhinometry (AR), active anterior rhinomanometer, nasal obstruction symptom evaluation (NOSE), and visual analog study (VAS) questionnaire.Results:There is a significant statistical correlation between the body mass increase and VAS and NOSE score increase (P0.05).Conclusions:Contrary to belief, obesity does not change the nasal resistance, airflow, and anatomy but it can cause subjective nasal complaints.