Chest ACCP Member Benefits
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Free
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chen, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Jiang, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chen, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Jiang, Y.
(Chest. 2006;130:890-895.)
© 2006 American College of Chest Physicians

The Association Between Obesity and Asthma Is Stronger in Nonallergic Than Allergic Adults*

Yue Chen, PhD; Robert Dales, MD and Ying Jiang, MSc

* From the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Medicine (Dr. Chen), and Medicine (Dr. Dales), Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; and the Surveillance and Risk Assessment Division (Mr. Jiang), Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Correspondence to: Yue Chen, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8M5; e-mail: ychen{at}uottawa.ca

Abstract

Study objective: To determine the modifying effects of sex and allergy history on the association between body mass index (BMI) and asthma prevalence.

Design: Cross-sectional study of 86,144 Canadians who were 20 to 64 years of age in 2000–2001.

Setting: A national survey.

Measurements and analysis: Self-reported asthma, allergy history, height, and weight. Logistic regression analysis was used to detect effect modification and to adjust for covariates. Population weight and design effects associated with complex survey design were taken into consideration.

Results: The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for obesity associated with asthma was 1.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65 to 2.07) for women and 1.21 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.40) for men. One unit of increased BMI was associated with an approximate 6% increase in asthma risk in women, and 3% in men. A stronger association between obesity and asthma was observed in nonallergic women than in allergic women, with the adjusted ORs being 2.53 (95% CI, 2.11 to 3.04) and 1.57 (95% CI, 1.36 to 1.82), respectively. For men, the corresponding ORs were 1.30 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.62) and 1.18 (95% CI, 0.98 to 1.53), respectively.

Conclusions: Obesity is likely to have a larger effect on nonallergic asthma. The greater prevalence of nonallergic asthma in women may explain the stronger obesity-asthma association seen in women compared with men and children who have a greater prevalence of allergic asthma.

Key Words: allergy • asthma • body mass index • obesity • sex






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the American College of Chest Physicians.