ASTHMA

Association of body mass with pulmonary function in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP)

K G Tantisira, A A Litonjua, S T Weiss, A L Fuhlbrigge for the Childhood Asthma Management Program Research Group

Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr K G Tantisira
Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; rekgt{at}channing.harvard.edu

Background: While increases in body mass index (BMI) have been associated with the incidence and prevalence of asthma, the mechanisms behind this association are unclear.

Methods: We hypothesised that BMI would be independently associated with measures of asthma severity in a population of children with mild to moderate asthma enrolled in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP). A multivariable baseline cross sectional analysis of BMI with our outcomes of interest was performed.

Results: BMI was generally not associated with symptoms, nor was it associated with atopy. While BMI was positively associated with the methacholine concentration that causes a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (PC₂₀FEV₁), this association did not persist after adjustment for FEV₁. Increasing BMI was associated with increasing FEV₁ (ß = 0.006 l, 95% CI (0.001 to 0.01)) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (ß = 0.012 l, 95% CI (0.007 to 0.017)). However, decrements in the FEV₁/FVC ratio were noted with increasing BMI (ß = –0.242, 95% CI (–0.118 to –0.366)). Thus, an increase in BMI of 5 units was associated with a decrease in FEV₁/FVC of over 1%.

Conclusions: Although the association of FEV₁ and FVC with BMI did not support our initial hypothesis, the decrease noted in the FEV₁/FVC ratio has potential relevance in the relationship between BMI and asthma severity.

Keywords: asthma; children; body mass; lung function; obesity

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

airwaves

Wisia Wedzicha
Thorax 2003 58: 1007. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sood, A., Qualls, C., Arynchyn, A., Beckett, W. S., Gross, M. D., Steffes, M. W., Smith, L. J., Holvoet, P., Thyagarajan, B., Jacobs, D. R. Jr (2009). Obesity-Asthma Association: Is It Explained by Systemic Oxidant Stress?. Chest 136: 1055-1062 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nicolacakis, K., Skowronski, M. E., Coreno, A. J., West, E., Nader, N. Z., Smith, R. L., McFadden, E. R. Jr. (2008). Observations on the physiological interactions between obesity and asthma. J. Appl. Physiol. 105: 1533-1541 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Sin, D D, Sutherland, E R (2008). Obesity and the lung: 4 {middle dot} Obesity and asthma. Thorax 63: 1018-1023 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tantisira, K. G., Colvin, R., Tonascia, J., Strunk, R. C., Weiss, S. T., Fuhlbrigge, A. L., for the Childhood Asthma Management Program Resear, (2008). Airway Responsiveness in Mild to Moderate Childhood Asthma: Sex Influences on the Natural History. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 178: 325-331 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lessard, A., Turcotte, H., Cormier, Y., Boulet, L.-P. (2008). Obesity and Asthma: A Specific Phenotype?. Chest 134: 317-323 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bateman, E. D., Hurd, S. S., Barnes, P. J., Bousquet, J., Drazen, J. M., FitzGerald, M., Gibson, P., Ohta, K., O'Byrne, P., Pedersen, S. E., Pizzichini, E., Sullivan, S. D., Wenzel, S. E., Zar, H. J. (2008). Global strategy for asthma management and prevention: GINA executive summary. Eur Respir J 31: 143-178 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ly, N. P., Soto-Quiros, M. E., Avila, L., Hunninghake, G. M., Raby, B. A., Laskey, D., Sylvia, J. S., Celedon, J. C. (2008). Paternal Asthma, Mold Exposure, and Increased Airway Responsiveness Among Children With Asthma in Costa Rica. Chest 133: 107-114 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Johnston, R. A., Zhu, M., Rivera-Sanchez, Y. M., Lu, F. L., Theman, T. A., Flynt, L., Shore, S. A. (2007). Allergic Airway Responses in Obese Mice. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 176: 650-658 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Carroll, C. L., Stoltz, P., Raykov, N., Smith, S. R., Zucker, A. R. (2007). Childhood Overweight Increases Hospital Admission Rates for Asthma. Pediatrics 120: 734-740 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bender, B. G., Fuhlbrigge, A., Walders, N., Zhang, L. (2007). Overweight, Race, and Psychological Distress in Children in the Childhood Asthma Management Program. Pediatrics 120: 805-813 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Burgess, J. A., Walters, E. H., Byrnes, G. B., Giles, G. G., Jenkins, M. A., Abramson, M. J., Hopper, J. L., Dharmage, S. C. (2007). Childhood adiposity predicts adult-onset current asthma in females: a 25-yr prospective study. Eur Respir J 29: 668-675 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Beuther, D. A., Weiss, S. T., Sutherland, E. R. (2006). Obesity and Asthma. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 174: 112-119 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Leung, T F, Wong, G W K, Ko, F W S, Lam, C W K, Fok, T F (2005). Clinical and atopic parameters and airway inflammatory markers in childhood asthma: a factor analysis. Thorax 60: 822-826 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Varraso, R., Siroux, V., Maccario, J., Pin, I., Kauffmann, F., on behalf of the Epidemiological Study on the Gene, (2005). Asthma Severity Is Associated with Body Mass Index and Early Menarche in Women. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 171: 334-339 [Abstract] [Full Text]