Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Recent studies have suggested a relationship between asthma and obesity. The risk for developing asthma increases with increasing obesity among individuals. Yet little is known about how obesity influences asthma.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a relation of Obesity to asthma exists among adults presenting to the out patient respiratory clinic , and the correlation between Obesity and spirometric changes in patients with asthma. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done for one hundred patients aged 17 to 70 years patients with asthma diagnosed by clinical and pulmonary function test , in the respiratory outpatient's clinic in AL Kadhmia Teaching Hospital.
Collected from May to December 2010 The following parameters were assessed:
Weight, height, body mass index, gender,spirometric parameters which includes of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity(FVC),FEV1FVC ratio, and forced expiratory flow50% (FEF50%)
RESULTS:
There were 100 asthmatic patients,32 male and 68 female. There age between 17-70 year, classified into four groups according to BMI. There was significant relation between obesity and asthma (p=0.03),this relation was statistically significant in female(p=0.003) but not in male.
spirometry in male showed no statistically significant (p-value > 0.05) for FEV1, FVC FEV1FVC ratio, FEF50% in both non obese and obese, but in female statistically significant for FEV1FVC(p 0.05) ,FEF50% (p 0.036) , while no statistically significant for FEV1, FVC in both groups, for both male and female according to BMI there is statistically significant for FEF50% (p 0.015),while no statistically significant for FEV1FVC, FVC, FEV1 in both groups.
CONCLUSION:
There was a significant relation between asthma and obesity , in female ,but not in male. There is statistically significant difference for FEF50% ,and FEV1FVC in obese female .Also there is statistically significant difference for FEF50% in both male and female according to BMI.