The relationship of excess body weight and health-related quality of life: evidence from a population study in Taiwan

Abstract

Objective: Excess body weight is related to significant morbidity and mortality. However, less is known about the relationship of body weight to health-related quality of life (HRQOL), especially for Asian populations. We examined the relationship of excess weight and HRQOL in a general population sample from Taiwan. Research methods and procedures: This cross-sectional study used a national representative sample (n ¼ 14 221) from the 2001 Taiwan National Health Interview Survey. Body weight was categorized using body mass index (BMI in kg/m 2 ) as normal (18.5-24.9), overweight (25-29.9), and obese (X30). HRQOL was measured using the Taiwan version of the SF-36. We compared the body weight-HRQOL relationships by age, gender, and status of chronic condition, respectively. We especially used the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to examine the relationships of BMI and HRQOL by taking into account the correlations of HRQOL within households. Four models were developed to adjust sequentially for sets of covariates: Model 1 with no adjustment; Model 2 adjusting for sociodemographic variables; Model 3 adding chronic conditions; Model 4 further adding smoking status. Results: Unadjusted physical HRQOL was best for normal weight, worse for overweight, and worst for obese individuals. For unadjusted mental HRQOL, overweight subjects had at least as good mental domain scores of HRQOL as those with normal weight or obesity, depending on the subscales. As age increased, excess weight was associated with worse physical, but not mental HRQOL. Compared to men, women with excess weight showed a greater deficit in physical HRQOL. Multivariable analyses suggested that obesity was associated with worse physical HRQOL compared to overweight, which, in turn, was worse or comparable to normal weight. Specifically, in the model adjusting for demographic variables, the deficit in physical functioning and physical component scores for the obese vs normal weight were statistical significant (Po0.05) and clinically important difference (effect size X0.3). Both obesity and overweight were associated with higher mental component scores than normal weight, but the effect size was o0.3. Conclusion: In Taiwan, excess weight was related to worse physical, but not mental HRQOL. The lack of impact of increased body weight on mental health status presents a potential challenge to preventing the increases in obesity. More research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which excess weight affects specific domains of HRQOL, and to develop effective prevention strategies.

Longitudinal Association Between Body Mass Index and Health-Related Quality of Life.

“…Numerous cross-sectional studies have affirmed that compared to normal-weight individuals, obese individuals are more likely to have a poorer level of physical HRQoL [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]22,25,30,31,34,37]. Our study results confirmed that BMI is inversely associated with physical SF-12 summary score.…”

“…In overweight and obese individuals, the physical SF-12 summary score decreased with increasing BMI whereas no such association was found in normalweight individuals. Several studies identified the highest levels of physical HRQoL among normal-weight adults [8][9][10][11]13,16,17,30,54]. However, other studies showed significantly poorer physical HRQoL only in obese but not in overweight individuals [14,15,31,37].…”

Calidad de vida, según percepción y comportamientos de control del peso por género, en estudiantes universitarios adolescentes en México

“…Hallamos menor índice total y dominio personal de CV en los hombres con ligero sobrepeso, respecto a los de peso cercano al correcto, lo que difiere de un estudio hecho en Canadá 39 con 6.302 mujeres y 2.792 hombres mayores de 25 años que encontró que la CV fue ligeramente mejor, incluso para los hombres con ligero sobrepeso, respecto a los de peso normal y de otro estudio que encontró que los hombres con sobrepeso tenían mejores puntuaciones en los dominios mentales que los de peso normal 40 . Probablemente, en esos estudios donde la edad fue mayor en los hombres se observó una menor preocupación por la apariencia personal que en los adolescentes, como en nuestro estudio, donde su apariencia es aún un aspecto importante de su vida interior.…”

Body composition and the quality of life estimated by the General Health Questionnaire by David Goldberg (GHQ-12) in women aged 55-60 years

“…Na podstawie badań antropometrycznych podzielono pacjentki na dwie grupy: grupę A (n = 16), którą stanowiły pacjentki z otłuszczeniem pośladkowo-udowym -typu "gruszka" (WHR 0,74 ±0,12), i grupę B (n = 16), którą tworzyły kobiety z brzusznym typem otłuszczenia -typu "jabłko" (WHR 0,93 ±0,14). W badaniu jakości życia wykorzystano Kwestionariusz ogólnego stanu zdrowia Davida Goldberga (GHQ-12 Goldberga), dostosowany kulturowo.…”

“…Aż 89% kobiet z tej grupy wykazywało pogorszenie samopoczucia w ciągu ostatnich tygodni. W piśmiennictwie jest wiele danych na temat zależności pomiędzy jakością życia a wartością BMI u kobiet i mężczyzn w różnych kategoriach wiekowych, w tym także kobiet powyżej 50. roku życia [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. We wszystkich wspomnianych badaniach znaleziono istotną zależność pomiędzy wartością BMI a jakością życia, niezależnie od użytego do badań kwestionariusza.…”