Waist Circumference and Spirometric Measurements in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the waist circumference of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), had an impact on lung function.

There were 180 patients with COPD recruited into this prospective cross-sectional study. The age, weight, body mass index and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Spirometry parameters including forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), were measured and FEV1/FVC calculated.

The mean FEV1/FVC in both normal weight and overweight patients, did not statistically significantly correlate with WC. The COPD assessment test, positively correlated with WC ( p = 0.031). A positive correlation with body mass index ( p < 0.001), smoking ( p = 0.027), and global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease score ( p = 0.009), were observed to positively associate with WC. WC, age, C-reactive protein, duration of disease, and gender (male), were observed to be statistically significant risk factors for the severity of COPD.

WC was not observed to impact upon lung function in this study but it was a predictive factor for COPD severity in patients.