Does body mass index of patients effects severity of disease in hospitalized asthmatics?

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to analyze the effects of obesity to the severity of the disease, by investigating the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and characteristics of asthma in hospitalized asthma patients. Characteristics of asthma related factors and BMI of patients analyzed retrospectively from the data obtained from the clinic files of 160 hospitalized patients (41male,119female, mean age 46.5±1.1years)who were followed in our department.Body mass index was calculated as body weight/height (kg/m2).Patients were divided and evaluated in three groups according to their BMI; Group1: BMI<22.5 thin, Group2: 22.5≤ BMI<30 normal or overweight,Group3: BMI≥30 obese.The mean BMI of the whole patients was 28.3±0.5, whilst the mean BMI of patients in Group 1 was 32.9±2.9,in Group 2 was 46.6 ± 1.6,and in Group 3 was 49.2 ± 1.5. The 20% of patients in Group 1, 47% of patients in Group2 and 33% of patients in Group3 were atopic The 33%of the asthmatic patients was also diagnosed to have allergic rhinites.The 8.4% of patients (n:13)had a history of childhood asthma (54% in Group1, 31% in Group2 and 15% in Group3).The percentage of patients with the history of childhood asthma was significantly higher in Group1 than in Group2 and Group 3.Although there was not any significant difference in the mean eosinophiles counts and mean serum ECP levels of patients, those values were lower in Group3 than in other groups.There was not any significant difference in mean outdoor and indoor allergen sensitivity scores of patients among groups. Mean medication score (number of controller drugs) of patients in Group1 was significantly lower than in Group2 and Group3.The lung function parameters of FEV1 and PEF were not significantly different among groups, but predicted value of FVC was significantly higher in Group1 than Group2 and Group3 According these results we came to the conclusion that obesity was a severity factor in hospitalized asthmatic patients. Asthma outcomes was effected badly with increasing body weight in asthmatics.