High Body Mass Index as a Risk Factor for Hospitalization Due to Influenza: A Case-Control Study

Obesity has emerged as a significant independent predictor of severity in pandemic influenzaA (H1N1)pdm09. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of hospitalization due to influenza.

Hospitalized patients (n=755) with laboratory-confirmed influenza were individually matched by age, admission/visit date, and province with an outpatient (n=783) with laboratory-confirmed influenza and an outpatient control (n=950). We compared the BMI using conditional logistic regression adjusted for potential confounding factors (aOR). The population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated.

A higher BMI was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization compared to both outpatient cases (aOR=1.11; 95%CI: 1.07-1.16) and outpatient controls (aOR=1.04; 95%CI: 1.01-1.07). Compared with normal weight, obesity type I, obesity type II and obesity type III was associated with a greater likelihood of hospitalization compared with outpatient cases (aOR=1.85, 95%CI: 1.05-3.26; aOR=5.24, 95%CI: 1.94-14.15 and aOR=44.38, 95%CI: 4.47-440.5). Compared with normal weight, obesity type II and obesity type III was associated with a greater likelihood of hospitalization compared with outpatient controls (aOR=4.37, 95%CI: 1.79-10.69 and aOR=4.95, 95%CI: 1.45-16.87). In persons without influenza vaccination, all categories of BMI≥30kg/m(2) were associated with a greater likelihood of hospitalization compared with normal weight in both outpatient cases and outpatient controls. The PAF of hospitalization by influenza due to BMI ranged from 21.9% to 8.5%; in the case of unvaccinated against influenza between 20.5% to 16.9%.

A high BMI is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization due to influenza. High percentage of hospital admissions are attributable to their BMI, especially in non vaccinated.