TOPLINE

Metabolic comorbidities, including overweight or obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes, were frequently reported among patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), with prevalence generally comparable to global reference estimates. Also, patients with CRS had lower odds of elevated total cholesterol than those without CRS, whereas the odds of diabetes and hypertension were similar between groups.

METHODOLOGY

• Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between CRS and metabolic comorbidities.
• They searched major databases from inception to June 2025 and identified 53 eligible studies; of these, 48 were included in quantitative syntheses, covering 1,115,790 adults with CRS.
• Metabolic comorbidities were combined as follows: overweight or obesity for BMI ≥ 25; dyslipidemia for a diagnosis of dyslipidemia or hyperlipidemia; hypertension for a diagnosis of hypertension, systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 130 mm Hg, or diastolic BP ≥ 80 mm Hg; and diabetes for type 1, type 2, or unspecified diabetes or fasting blood glucose ≥ 125 mg/dL.
• Global reference estimates for the prevalence of metabolic comorbidities were drawn from published reports for comparison with the pooled estimates.

TAKEAWAY

• Overweight or obesity was the most prevalent metabolic condition among patients with CRS, affecting 45.1% (95% CI, 39.3%-51.0%) — near the lower end of global reference ranges (45%-73%).
• The pooled prevalence was 26.4% (95% CI, 23.9%-29.0%) for hypertension, which was below global reference estimates; it was 22.0% (95% CI, 17.5%-27.0%) for dyslipidemia and 12.5% (95% CI, 11.2%-13.9%) for diabetes, both similar to global estimates.
• In pooled analyses, patients with CRS had odds of diabetes and hypertension comparable to those of control participants without CRS.
• Patients with CRS had lower odds of elevated total cholesterol (> 240 mg/dL) than control participants without CRS (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.96-0.97).

IN PRACTICE

"Our findings support general awareness of cardiometabolic health in patients with CRS. However, current evidence does not support routine metabolic screening in this population beyond standard guideline-based care," the authors wrote.

SOURCE

Shaun A. Nguyen, MD, with the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on September 2 in the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy.

LIMITATIONS

Most studies were observational or cross-sectional, limiting causal inference. Comparator data were missing for several metabolic measures. Studies often did not distinguish between CRS phenotypes (with or without polyps), and outcomes were rarely stratified by phenotype. Moreover, many studies did not adjust for key confounders such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, or medication use.

DISCLOSURES

The study did not receive any funding, and the authors reported having no relevant 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.