Posterior Rhinometry as a Rapid Screening Test for Nasal Dysfunction

Author： Schwartz Howard J. Arnold Jean L. Decker Michael J. Hoekje Peter L. Strohl Kingman P.

ISSN： 1539-6290

Source： American Journal of Rhinology, Vol.4, Iss.2, 1990-03, pp. : 69-73

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Abstract

During two 3-day health fairs, 100 people agreed to perform posterior rhinometry and complete a brief screening questionnaire. Rhinometry curves were technically uninterpretable in 18 subjects (18%). Of those with acceptable data, mean nasal resistance, defined as the ratio of pressure over flow at 0.4 liters/sec was 5.09 ± 6.60 cm H₂O/L/sec (mean ± 1 SD, n = 82). Nasal resistance in male subjects (n = 34) was significantly lower than in female subjects (n = 48). Values for nasal resistance were independent of a history for seasonal symptoms, snoring, asthma, atopy, and allergies including hay fever, either with each variable taken alone or taken in combination. We conclude that approximately 18% of naive subjects may not be able to perform posterior rhinometry without more extensive coaching and that outside the clinical laboratory there often may be no correlation between clinical history and objective measurements of nasal resistance.