Obesity Linked to Asthma-Related Hospitalization

Obesity is associated with an increased risk for repeated asthma-related hospital admissions among children, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers examined the hospital discharge records of 38,679 patients from 3 to 8 years of age who were diagnosed with asthma in Japan. Patients were classified as underweight (n=3177), normal weight (n=28,904), overweight (n=3334), or obese (n=3264) based on height and body mass index for their age. The researchers used multivariable regression models to compare the use of intensive care, 30-day re-admission, mean total hospitalization costs, and length of hospital stay between groups.
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Compared with patients who were classified as normal weight, patients with obesity had significantly higher 30-day re-admission and longer length of stay in the hospital. The threshold was a 91st percentile of weight for length or body mass index for the relationship with 30-day re-admission.

The researchers did not observe any significant differences in the need for intensive care or total hospitalization costs between the 4 groups.

“These findings demonstrated that obesity was a risk factor for repeated admissions caused by asthma in children, indicating the importance for the prevention of pediatric obesity,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Okubo Y, Michihata N, Yoshida K, et al. Impact of pediatric obesity on acute asthma exacerbation in Japan [published online October 18, 2017]. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.12801.