Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Intracranial Pressure Monitoring In Nontraumatic Intraventricular Hemorrhage Rodent Model
Published on: February 8, 2022
Association Between Body Mass Index and Functional Outcomes in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Andrea Becerril-Gaitan1, Dale Ding1, Natasha Ironside1
1From the Departments of Neurosurgery (A.B.-G., C.-J.C.) and Neurology (J.A., S.I.S.), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Department of Neurosurgery (D.D.), University of Louisville, KY; Department of Neurosurgery (N.I.); Departments of Neurology and Public Health Sciences (A.M.S., B.B.W.), University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville; Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation (F.D.T.), University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago; Department of Neurology (M.L.F., D.W.), University of Cincinnati, OH; Department of Neurology (M.S.E.), Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York; Department of Neurology (S.K.) and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (J.L.M.), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, FL; Department of Neurology and Neurocritical Care and Stroke (G.S.), Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Department of Neurology (S.J.K.), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; Department of Neurology (D.J.M.), MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC; Department of Neurology (N.G.), University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora; Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery (M.M.), University of Tennessee Health Sciences, Memphis; Department of Neurology (C.E.H.), University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas; Department of Neurology (M.R.F.), Emory University, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA; Departments of Anesthesiology and Neurology (M.L.J.), Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC; and Henry and Allison McCane Center for Brain Health and Center for Genomic Medicine (C.D.A.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts, Boston.
Background And Objectives:
Evidence of the so-called "obesity paradox," which refers to the protective effect and survival benefit of obesity in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), remains controversial. This study aims to determine the association between body mass index (BMI) and functional outcomes in patients with ICH and whether it is modified by race/ethnicity.
Methods:
Included individuals were derived from the Ethnic/Racial Variations of Intracerebral Hemorrhage study, which prospectively recruited 1,000 non-Hispanic White, 1,000 non-Hispanic Black, and 1,000 Hispanic patients with spontaneous ICH. Only patients with available BMI were included. The primary outcome was 90-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were mortality at discharge, modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Barthel Index, and self-reported health status measures at 90 days. Associations between BMI and ICH outcomes were assessed using univariable and multivariable logistic, ordinal, and linear regression models, as appropriate. Sensitivity analyses after excluding frail patients and by patient race/ethnicity were performed.
Results:
A total of 2,841 patients with ICH were included. The median age was 60 years (interquartile range 51-73). Most patients were overweight (n = 943; 33.2%) or obese (n = 1,032; 36.3%). After adjusting for covariates, 90-day mortality was significantly lower among overweight and obese patients than their normal weight counterparts (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.71 [0.52-0.98] and aOR = 0.70 [0.50-0.97], respectively). Compared with patients with BMI <25 kg/m2, those with BMI ≥25 kg/m2 had better 90-day mRS (aOR = 0.80 [CI 0.67-0.95]), EuroQoL Group 5-Dimension (EQ-5D) (aβ = 0.05 [0.01-0.08]), and EQ-5D VAS (aβ = 3.80 [0.80-6.98]) scores. These differences persisted after excluding withdrawal of care patients. There was an inverse relationship between BMI and 90-day mortality (aOR = 0.97 [0.96-0.99]). Although non-Hispanic White patients had significantly higher 90-day mortality than non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic (26.6% vs 19.5% vs 18.0%, respectively; p < 0.001), no significant interactions were found between BMI and race/ethnicity. No significant interactions between BMI and age or sex for 90-day mortality were found, whereas for 90-day mRS, there was a significant interaction with age (pinteraction = 0.004).
Conclusion:
We demonstrated that a higher BMI is associated with decreased mortality, improved functional outcomes, and better self-reported health status at 90 days, thus supporting the paradoxical role of obesity in patients with ICH. The beneficial effect of high BMI does not seem to be modified by race/ethnicity or sex, whereas age may play a significant role in patient functional outcomes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:17Hemorrhagic Stroke l: Introduction
01:29Hemorrhagic Stroke ll: Pathophysiology