Obesity associated with increased hospital admission risk
Greater adiposity was associated with increased risk for hospital admission in the UK, and greater central adiposity increased risk more than higher BMI, according to findings published in Economics and Human Biology.
“We live in increasingly obesogenic environments with the World Health Organization identifying 39% of men and 40% of women as being overweight, and 11% of men and 15% of women as obese worldwide,” Audinga-Dea Hazewinkel, Population Health Sciences and MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at Bristol Medical School at the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, said in a related press release. “Findings causal effect estimates between fatty tissue and hospital admissions larger than those previously reported in existing studies emphasizes the necessity of exploring policies aimed at reducing obesity in the population.”
Hazewinkel and colleagues used a novel quasi-Poisson instrumental variable model Mendelian randomization to analyze data from 310,471 adults (mean age, 57.4 years; 53.7% women) from the UK Biobank cohort. Data were linked with information of 550,000 inpatient hospitalizations in the UK. Researchers collected measurements on weight, bio-impedance, height, waist and hip circumference at baseline.
Researchers estimated individual and joint effects of BMI, waist-hip ratio, and waist-hip ratio adjusted for BMI. All participants were followed for an average of 6 years.
Researchers observed a direct causal effect of higher BMI (RR = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.07-1.1) and waist-hip ratio (RR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.14-1.17) on higher yearly hospital admission rates. There was a 1.03-fold increase per BMI standard deviation and a 1.14-fold increase per waist-hip ratio standard deviation for hospitalization. These estimates were larger than estimates collected from existing research, according to the researchers.
The associations were mainly driven by adverse fat distribution in waist-hip ratio compared with overall BMI. With each 0.09-unnit higher waist-hip ratio, individuals were 16%-26% more likely to be admitted to the hospital compared with an 8%-16% increased likelihood for each 4.74 kg/m2 higher BMI. According to the researchers, this is equivalent of gaining 9.6 cm in waist circumference or almost 13 kg in weight for a woman 163 cm tall and 65 kg, and gaining 9.2 cm or 15 kg for a man 177 cm tall and 79 kg.
“The results also suggest that a preference should be given to waist-hip ratio as a measure of body fat over BMI as this may be more important for predicting hospital admissions,” Hazewinkel said.
Reference:
- Being overweight may cause more UK hospital admissions than previously thought, finds new study. Published Jan. 14, 2022. Accessed Jan. 18, 2022.
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