Diverticulitis: the relationship between body mass index and disease location, recurrence, and complications

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and recurrent diverticulitis, complication rate, and location of disease in an ambulatory population. A retrospective chart review was performed using patients with computed tomography-documented diverticulitis in a New York outpatient gastroenterology practice. Total episodes, location of disease, complications, and BMI and age at first episode were recorded. A random control group was formed using patients with diverticulosis from the same practice. Controls' BMI and age at last colonoscopy were recorded. Descriptive statistics and Student's t test were used with alpha set at p < .05. Patients with diverticulitis were significantly more overweight than patients with diverticulosis (p < .05); however, among ambulatory patients with diverticulitis, there was no significant difference in the BMI of patients with a single episode when compared with those with recurrent disease. Furthermore, there was no association between BMI and complication rate or location of disease.