TOPLINE: 

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) was associated with a substantially higher risk of developing new-onset asthma and later exacerbations, and the risk was even higher among those with coexisting allergic rhinitis.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used data from a large US electronic health records database to evaluate whether the co-occurrence of allergic rhinitis among adults with CRS modified the risk of developing asthma.
• A total of 194,349 patients with CRS (mean age, 55.9 years; 64.22% women) were propensity score matched with an equal number of adults without CRS; likewise, 547,933 patients with CRS and a concurrent diagnosis of allergic rhinitis (mean age, 49.3 years; 66.46% women) were matched with an equal number of patients with CRS alone.
• The primary outcome was the incidence of new-onset asthma and asthma exacerbations, each assessed at 1-, 2-, and 5-year intervals after the index visit documenting CRS.

TAKEAWAY:

• At 1 year, having CRS was associated with a 42% higher risk of developing asthma (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.42; 95% CI, 1.36-1.48) and an 87% higher risk of developing asthma exacerbations (aRR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.75-2.00) than not having CRS; these elevated risks persisted at 2 and 5 years of follow-up.
• A concurrent diagnosis of allergic rhinitis with CRS was associated with a 69% higher risk for new-onset asthma (aRR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.65-1.73) and more than doubled the risk for subsequent exacerbations (aRR, 2.11; 95% CI, 2.06-2.21) than a diagnosis of CRS alone; the risks persisted at 2 and 5 years of follow-up.
• Similar patterns of elevated risk for asthma and exacerbations were observed among patients with CRS and nasal polyps vs those without, and a concurrent diagnosis of allergic rhinitis further aggravated the risk.

IN PRACTICE:

"From a care standpoint, recognizing AR [allergic rhinitis] in patients with CRS may help identify individuals at higher risk for developing asthma or experiencing exacerbations," the authors wrote. 

SOURCE:

Mohamad R. Chaaban, with the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on March 13, 2026, in International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology.

LIMITATIONS: 

The study relied on electronic health records, which could have introduced diagnostic misclassification, measurement bias, and residual confounding. Because the analysis was observational and database-driven, it could not establish causation, and unmeasured factors could have influenced the findings.

DISCLOSURES:

No funding source was reported for the study, and the authors declared having no conflicts of interest. 

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.