Effects of Obesity on Lung Functions in Young Adults
Effects of Obesity on Lung Functions in Young Adults
Muhammad Younus1*, Sabah Usman2 and Samia Jawed3
ABSTRACT
Abstract | Obesity is a global health problem and its prevalence is increasing continuously. It is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide and is associated with decreased lung functions.
Objective: This study was designed to compare the pulmonary functions in obese and non-obese subjects. Additionally, we aimed to correlate the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with pulmonary function tests (PFT’s).
Material and Methods: This cross sectional comparative study was conducted at the Institute of Chest Medicine, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan. One hundred and twenty individuals consisting of 60 obese (30 males, 30 females) and 60 non-obese (30 males, 30 females), fulfilling the inclusion criteria, were enrolled through non-probability purposive sampling. Informed written consent was taken from all subjects. The demographic information of these subjects such as name, age, sex, height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio were recorded. Spirometry of all the subjects was performed on Spirolab iii. Correlation between FVC, FEV1, FEV1/ FVC ratio and body mass index, waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio was measured by Pearson coefficient. A p value <0.05 was considered as significant.
Results: In this study mean age of subjects was 28.92 ± 6.34 years. The mean FVC in obese cases was 3.18 ± 0.92 L and in non-obese cases was 3.68 ± 0.93 L with p value of 0.021. The mean value of FEV1 in obese was 2.83 ± 0.82 L and in non-obese cases was 3.19 ± 0.71 L with p value 0.011 and mean FEV1/FVC ratio in obese cases was 84.73 ± 11.86 and in non-obese cases it was 90.27 ± 6.89 with p value of 0.002. In this study, there was a negative correlation between FVC, FEV1 and body mass index, waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio with p value <0.05.
Conclusions: It is plausible to conclude that obese individuals in this sample had significantly lower FVC and FEV1 values compared to non-obese. Body mass index, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratios were negatively associated with FVC and FEV1.
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March 2018
Vol. 24, Iss. 1, Pages 1-153
