Body Mass Index and Mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Chao Cao, Ran Wang, Jianmiao Wang, Hansvin Bunjhoo, Yongjian Xu and Weining Xiong

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 8, 1-8

Abstract: Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been a subject of interest for decades. However, the evidence is inadequate to draw robust conclusions because some studies were generally small or with a short follow-up. Methods: We carried out a search in MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE database for relevant studies. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the association between BMI and mortality in patients with COPD. In addition, a baseline risk-adjusted analysis was performed to investigate the strength of this association. Results: 22 studies comprising 21,150 participants were included in this analysis. Compared with patients having a normal BMI, underweight individuals were associated with higher mortality (RR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.01–1.78), whereas overweight (RR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.33–0.68) and obese (RR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.38–0.91) patients were associated with lower mortality. We further performed a baseline risk-adjusted analysis and obtained statistically similar results. Conclusion: Our study showed that for patients with COPD being overweight or obese had a protective effect against mortality. However, the relationship between BMI and mortality in different classes of obesity needed further clarification in well-designed clinical studies.

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0043892

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043892

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