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. 2021 Apr 8:14:347-359.
doi: 10.2147/JAA.S299186. eCollection 2021.

The Effects of Asthma on the Association Between Pulmonary Function and Obesity: A 16-Year Longitudinal Study

Ying-Jhen Huang  1 , Yi-Chi Chu  1 , Hung-Ling Huang  2   3   4 , Jing-Shiang Hwang  5 , Ta-Chien Chan  1   6
Affiliations

The Effects of Asthma on the Association Between Pulmonary Function and Obesity: A 16-Year Longitudinal Study

Ying-Jhen Huang et al. J Asthma Allergy. .

Abstract

Background: Asthma and obesity are important public health issues around the world. Obesity is considered a risk factor associated with the severity and incidence of asthma. We investigated the relationships between poor pulmonary function (defined by forced vital capacity (FVC) and percentage of predicted FVC (FVC%)) and obesity.

Methods: This is a retrospective longitudinal study using the MJ health examination database in Taiwan from 2000 to 2015. There were 160,609 participants aged ≥20 years with complete obesity indicators and lung function data, and having at least two visits. A generalized estimation equation (GEE) model was applied to estimate the association between lung function and obesity.

Results: BMI was the best indicator to predict poor pulmonary function for our participants. Results of BMI are presented as an example: Obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥27.0 kg/m2) is significantly associated with lower FVC [adjusted coefficients (β) for asthmatics: -0.11 L (95% CI: -0.14, -0.08); adjusted β for non-asthmatics: -0.08 L (-0.09, -0.08)] and FVC% [adjusted β for asthmatics: -1.91% (95% CI: -2.64, -1.19); adjusted β for non-asthmatics: 1.48% (-1.63, -1.33)]. Annual change of BMI (ΔBMI/year) is an independent risk factor for decreased FVC [adjusted β for asthmatics: -0.030 L (-0.048, -0.013); adjusted β for non-asthmatics: -0.019 L (-0.022, -0.016)] and FVC% [adjusted β for non-asthmatics: -0.603% (-1.063, -0.142); adjusted β for non-asthmatics: -0.304% (-0.393, -0.214)], and is significantly associated with accelerated FVC decline [adjusted β of ΔFVC/year and ΔFVC %/year for asthmatics: -0.038 L (-0.054, -0.022) and -0.873% (-1.312, -0.435); adjusted β of ΔFVC/year and ΔFVC %/year for non-asthmatics: -0.033 L (-0.042, -0.024) and -0.889% (-1.326, -0.452)].

Conclusion: Obesity is significantly associated with decreased lung function, and asthmatics had a higher risk than non-asthmatics.

Keywords: BMI; FVC; asthma; obesity; pulmonary function.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Environmental data cleaning flow chart.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of obesity indicators on FVC and FVC%. (A) The associations between obesity and FVC among asthma and non-asthma participants. Adjusted for season, sex, age group, education, HTN, DM†, AHTN†‡¶, AHG‡¶, psychiatric medication (PM)†‡¶, and pollutant standards index (PSI). (B) The associations between obesity and FVC% among asthma and non-asthma participants. Adjusted for season, sex, age group, education, PM, PSI, and physical activity. †, ‡, and Means only adjustment in the BMI, WC, and WHtR, respectively. §Means per 1% increase. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of obesity indicators on ΔFVC/year and ΔFVC%/year. (A) The associations between obesity and ΔFVC/year among asthma and non-asthma participants. Adjusted for season, sex, age group, and education (B) The associations between obesity and ΔFVC%/year among asthma and non-asthma participants. Adjusted for season, sex, age, group, education, and PSI. §Means per 1% increase. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of obesity indicators on restrictive lung function. The associations between obesity (defined by BMI, WC and WHtR) and restrictive lung function among asthma and non-asthma participants. Adjusted for season, sex, age group, education, psychiatric medication (PM), pollutant standards index (PSI), and physical activity. *p<0.05, ***p<0.001.
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Grants and funding

This research was supported by a grant titled “Obesity and asthma severity: interactions among health behaviors, genetic polymorphism, and environmental exposure” (grant number: AS-PH 109-01-2) from Academia Sinica. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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