Obesity may worsen quality of life in patients with PAH, Study finds

Therefore, the study was carried out to assess the effect of obesity on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), hospitalizations and survival in patients with PAH, describes Jeff Min, the lead author.

The authors performed a cohort study including a total of 767 subjects having a mean age of 57 years out of which 74% were female, 33% overweight, and 40% obese, with a median follow-up duration of 527 days. All the adults had PAH noted from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry, a prospective multicenter registry.

Multivariate linear mixed-effects regression was used to examine the relationship between weight categories and HRQoL.

The following results were observed-

a. Overweight and obese patients had higher baseline e10 scores (worse HRQoL), which persisted over time.

b. The overweight and obese have a trend towards an increased incidence of hospitalizations compared to normal weight.

c. Overweight and obese patients had a lower risk of transplant or death as compared to normal weight patients.

Hence, the investigators concluded that "overweight and obese patients had worse disease-specific HRQoL despite better transplant-free survival compared to normal-weight patients."

Future interventions should address the specific needs of these patients exclaimed Min.

For further reference log on to:

Min J, et al. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2020;doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.202006-612OC.