BACKGROUND: Medical comorbidities are commonly encountered in chronic 
rhinosinusitis (CRS) and may impact both physical function and patient reported 
health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL). The functional comorbidity index (FCI) 
is designed to elucidate the role of comorbidities on functional prognosis. The 
objective of this study was to understand the impact of comorbidities known to 
impact physical function on baseline HRQOL using the FCI.Methodology: Patients 
meeting diagnostic criteria for CRS were prospectively enrolled in a 
cross-sectional study. Responses from the Sinonasal Outcomes Test-22 (SNOT-22), 
a measure of patient HRQOL, as well as the Lund-Kennedy and Lund-Mackay scores 
were recorded at enrollment. FCI was calculated retrospectively using the 
electronic medical record. Information was collected and compared for patients 
without (CRSsNP) and with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) using chi-square and t-tests. 
Spearman's correlations, followed by multivariate regression analysis, were used 
to assess the association between FCI and SNOT-22 scores.
RESULTS: One hundred and three patients met inclusion criteria for analysis. 
There were no significant differences in age, gender, and SNOT-22 scores between 
patients with CRSsNP and those with CRSwNP. FCI was significantly and 
independently associated with worse SNOT-22 scores (P = .012). FCI did not 
correlate with endoscopy and computed tomography scores. The mean FCI for 
patients with CRSsNP and CRSwNP was 2.02 and 2.24, respectively, and did not 
differ significantly between the two cohorts (P = .565).
CONCLUSIONS: Major medical comorbidities known to affect physical function are 
associated with worse SNOT-22 scores in patients with CRS as measured by the 
FCI.