Obesity in adulthood is associated with the severity of asthma, but not with asthma control

Abstract

Background: The impact of obesity on the severity of asthma continues to be a cause of controversy. Objective: To compare the severity of asthma and asthma control in obese patients with non-obese patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study which included 188 patients with asthma, of ≥ 18 years of age, who were selected consecutively. The patients were categorized and compared based on the presence or absence of obesity. In order to establish an association between variables, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: In total, 111/188 of the patients had obesity; these patients were older than those without obesity (35.9 ± 15.3 years vs. 44.4 ± 13.8 years, p <0.001). No significant difference was observed in the groups regarding sex, total IgE serum concentration, peripheral blood eosinophil count, personal history of atopic diseases, frequency of allergic sensitization, hospitalization for asthma, and asthma control. Overall, obesity was significantly associated with moderate-severe asthma (OR = 1.82, p = 0.047), but not with asthma control (p = 0.094). Conclusions: Our results suggest that patients with asthma and obesity are older and that their pulmonary function is worse, which is reflected in a greater level of severity of asthma.