Quality of Life in Obese Children with or without Atopic Disease

Background: Obesity and atopic disease are two increasingly important population health issues. Obesity could be a risk factor for atopic disease. To have a full vision of the health condition of the patients with obesity and atopic disease, it is important for the pediatricians to make a Quality of Life (QOL) Questionnaire as part of the patient’s follow-up. Few studies suggest that obesity decreases QOL in children with atopic disease such as asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the QOL in obese children with or without atopic disease.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with an initial sample of 109 children (6-11 years old) recruited from some private elementary schools in Bandung, Indonesia. The subjects were divided into obese children with or without atopic disease and normal weight children with or without atopic disease. The standard definition for obesity and atopic disease in children was based on the World Health Organization. To determine the effect of obesity and atopic disease on QOL, the Pediatrics Quality of Life Inventory^TM (PedsQL^TM) was applied to the subjects and also their parents. Mann-Whitney test was used to test the significance of categorical data and significance was determined by p < 0.05.

Results: Out of 109 patients in the study, 54.1% were males and 45.9% females, with a ratio of 1.2:1 and a mean age of 9.4 years ± 1.58 (standard deviation). The results of the four scales evaluated in the questionnaire (physical, emotional, social, school functioning), showed significant differences for the emotional functioning in QOL between obese-atopic disease and obese-non atopic disease groups (p = 0.04), but no significant differences in other scales.

Conclusions: This study revealed a significant differences for the emotional functioning in QOL between obese-atopic disease and obese-non atopic disease groups, but no significant differences in other scales. Further studies is needed to understanding the relationship between obesity and atopic disease to the patient’s QOL.

Key words: Atopic disease, Obesity, Quality of life

References:

vant Gent R, van der Ent CK, Rovers MM, et al. Excessive body weight is associated with additional loss of quality of life in children with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2007;119:591-96.

Vijil VB, Navarro DR, Eslava AB, Monge JJLS. Quality of life in pediatric patients with asthma with or without obesity: a pilot study. Allergol et Immunopathol 2004;32(5):259-64