FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Asthma patients who are overweight are less likely than normal weight patients to get their symptoms under an acceptable level of control, according to a study published in the January issue of Allergy.
Philippe Saint-Pierre of the Laboratoire de Biostatistique, Montpellier, France, and colleagues set up a database of approximately 400 adult asthmatics with mild, moderate or severe asthma. The data were gathered from a total of 1,639 consultations and the mean follow-up time was 182 days. Asthma control was defined as acceptable or unacceptable. Apart from evaluating the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and asthma management, the researchers also considered the impact of confounding factors such as severity of asthma, and current and past use of oral corticosteroid (OCS) treatment.
There was a positive correlation between BMI and severity of asthma, past use of OCS and current use of OCS. In overweight patients, asthma control was less likely to transition from unacceptable to acceptable and those with a BMI of less than 25 transitioned more quickly from unacceptable to acceptable health - 200 days vs. 300 for overweight patients.
The researchers "demonstrated that there is an association between excess weight and transition from unacceptable to acceptable control," they write. "Because control of asthma clearly drives asthma management, this finding has consequences for defining original new strategies for managing asthma in overweight patients."
Abstract
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