THURSDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Obese individuals with asthma are more likely to have poor asthma outcomes and more asthma-related hospitalizations than normal-weight individuals, according to a study published online in September in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
David M. Mosen, Ph.D., from Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Ore., and colleagues analyzed questionnaires from 1,113 members (aged 35 years or older) of a large integrated health care organization, who appeared to have active asthma based on their health care use. Of these, 37 percent were obese (body mass index of 30 or greater), 26.1 percent were normal weight (body mass index under 25), and 75.5 percent reported oral or inhaled corticosteroid use in the past month.
The researchers found that after adjusting for a number of factors, compared with individuals of normal weight, obese individuals were more likely to have poor asthma-specific quality of life (odds ratio 2.8), poor asthma control (OR, 2.7) and asthma-related hospitalizations (OR, 4.6).
"Our findings suggest that obesity is associated with worse asthma outcomes, especially an increased risk of asthma hospitalizations," Mosen and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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