Does higher body mass index contribute to worse asthma control in an urban population?
The researchers studied the relationship between BMI and asthma control among 292 people with asthma from an ethnically diverse urban community with a high prevalence of obesity. The average age of the participants was 47 years, 82% were women and 67% were African American. All the participants completed four validated asthma control questionnaires. Overall, 63% of the participants were obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m²), 22% were overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m²), and 15% were of normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m²). Scores on the four questionnaires indicated that, on average, the participants had suboptimal asthma control with an average score of 8.3 out of 19 on the ACCI, 15.4 out of 25 on the ACT, 2.1 out of 6 on the ACQ, and 1.3 out of 4 on the ATAQ. 96% of the cohort met criteria for suboptimal control on at least one of the questionnaires. Regression analysis revealed no significant association between BMI and asthma control using any of the four control questionnaires. Editor’s comment: This study
