Gender Differences in Relationship between Body Mass Index and Asthma

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Epidemiology
• Obesity Research

Background:

• Asthma is a prevalent global chronic respiratory disease.
• Obesity is a common comorbidity, influencing asthma incidence and progression.
• Obesity's association with non-allergic asthma may be gender-dependent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and asthma.
• To explore potential gender-specific differences in the BMI-asthma association.

Main Methods:

• Included 149 asthma patients and 153 healthy controls.
• Calculated BMI using standard formulas from medical records.
• Analyzed data using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and ANOVA (P<0.05 significance).

Main Results:

• Asthma patients exhibited significantly higher median BMI than controls (P=0.035).
• The BMI-asthma correlation was stronger in women (P=0.002) than men (P=0.898).
• Increased BMI was strongly associated with non-allergic asthma specifically in women (P<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Elevated BMI in asthma patients supports its role as a risk factor.
• The impact of BMI on asthma appears more pronounced in women.
• A significant link exists between higher BMI and non-allergic asthma exclusively in females.