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Patients with obesity at higher risk for diverticulosis
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Recently published data revealed a significant association between obesity and a higher risk for colonic diverticulosis.
Hamed Khalili, MD, MPH, of the digestive health care center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues wrote that while diverticulosis affects a large portion of the U.S. population, including more than half of people older than 70 years, research on its causes has varied.
“Data on determinants of diverticulosis have been sparse, with prior studies on the role of obesity and physical activity showing inconsistent results,” the study researchers wrote.
Khalili and colleagues studied a colonoscopy-based, longitudinal cohort to research the link, if any, between diverticulosis and obesity or physical activity. The researchers determined patient BMI scores, as well as metabolic equivalent task (MET) scores based on physical activity at baseline.
Of the 223 patients, 39.5% were overweight (BMI = 25–29.9 kg/m²) and 32.3% were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²). The researchers categorized the patients into three activity groups based on MET scores that corresponded to less than 3 hours per week walking, 3 to 8.9 hours, and more than 9 hours.
Khalili and colleagues found that rates of diverticulosis varied from 22.2% in the normal BMI group to 48.6% in the obese group (P = .003). Additionally, compared with patients in the normal BMI group, patients in the overweight group had a higher risk for diverticulosis (adjusted OR = 3.02; 95% CI, 1.33–6.88), as did those in the obese group (aOR = 4.43; 95% CI, 1.88–10.49).
The investigators also found that patients in the lowest activity group had higher incidence of diverticulosis, but the association was not significant.
“Although our observed associations do not imply causation, our results highlight the potential role of obesity in the pathogenesis of diverticulosis,” the researchers wrote. “Given that the U.S. population is aging and experiencing an obesity epidemic, we believe that the rate of diverticulosis will continue to increase, and, therefore, further research into understanding the obesity-related pathway that may mediate this association is warranted.” – by Alex Young
Disclosures : Khalili reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for all author’s relevant disclosures.
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