• Feras M Alkholaiwi, Rahaf R Almutairi, Danah M Alrajhi, Basma A Alturki, Atheer G Almutairi, and Faris H Binyousef.
• From the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Alkholaiwi), College of Medicine, Imam Mohmmad Ibn Saud Islamic University; from the Collage of Medicine (Almutairi, Alrajhi, Alturki, Binyousef), Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh; and from Unaizah Collage of Medicine (Almutairi) Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2022 Feb 1; 43 (2): 125-131.

ObjectivesTo find the association between environmental and occupational exposures and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) development.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items Of Systematic Reviews Guidelines were used when a systematic literature review was conducted to find all published cases of CRS by searching PubMed database and Google Scholar. Published articles between 1989 and 2021 that reported chronic and occupational rhinosinusitis were included. However, articles that reported allergic rhinitis or upper airway diseases and non-English articles were excluded from this study.ResultsA total of 97 articles were extracted initially, and 15 articles were reviewed after excluding 82 articles that did not match our inclusion criteria. Most studies linked CRS development to smoke exposure (n=9734), followed by living in rural areas as farms (n=5504). Exposure to pesticides (n=4248) contributed to a higher prevalence of CRS. Blue-collar occupations, such as fire fighters, farmers, and fishermen were significantly related to CRS development in a total of 5260 patients. Chronic rhinosinusitis mainly affected more men (n=8912) than women (n=8076).ConclusionWe found that smoking was the most aggravating environmental factor. Chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms' severity increased with direct contact with allergens. Thus, the greatest proportion of patients with CRS was those with blue-collar occupations, such as firefighters, farmers, and fishermen.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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