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Women with poorly controlled asthma likely to be more obese

Despite available treatments, asthma remains uncontrolled in some women, and obesity appeared to have a negative influence on controlling the disease in a recent study.

“Our study demonstrates that women with poorly controlled asthma have more severe disease and increased obesity,” researchers in Brazil wrote in Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology. “The study demonstrates that there is a negative relationship between central obesity and asthma control assessed using [Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA)] criteria and the [Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)] controlling for other independent variables.”

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study on 124 women diagnosed with persistent asthma from November 2013 to July 2014 at the University Hospital Gaffrée and Guinle in Rio de Janeiro to attempt to identify factors associated with uncontrolled asthma.

Seventy-two percent of the participants were considered overweight or obese, according to BMI standards. Central obesity was observed in 68% of the participants when using waist circumference and 84% using conicity index.

“Our results showed that central obesity and not excess body fat was associated with asthma control in women,” the investigators wrote.

The researchers said there was a significant difference between central obesity and asthma control when using the ACQ (OR = 2.53; 95% CI, 1.06-6.05) and GINA (OR = 3.15; 95% CI, 1.09-9.09) criteria.

“The study also emphasizes the importance and complexity of defining asthma control precisely, and we suggest further prospective studies to control for a possible intervention of comorbidities that can emerge during the course of the disease,” the researchers concluded.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.