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. 2018 Feb 3;18(1):25.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-018-1044-8.

Metabolic correlates of health-related quality of life among overweight and obese adolescents

Chih-Ting Lee  1   2 , Chung-Ying Lin  3 , Carol Strong  4 , Yu-Fang Lin  5 , Yen-Yin Chou  5 , Meng-Che Tsai  6
Affiliations

Metabolic correlates of health-related quality of life among overweight and obese adolescents

Chih-Ting Lee et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the metabolic factors associated with the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among obese youths. The aim of this study is to assess metabolic correlates of HRQOL in a clinical sample of Taiwanese overweight and obese (OW/OB) adolescents.

Methods: OW/OB adolescents (age 11-19 years) were recruited and compared to their normal-weight counterparts in a tertiary hospital. HRQOL was assessed by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Student t tests and Cohen's d were used to compare the differences in the PedsQL scores between normal-weight and OW/OB participants who were stratified by their cumulative number of cardiometabolic risk factors (CRF). Pearson's correlation and multivariate linear regression analyses were applied to identify predictors of PedsQL.

Results: OW/OB adolescents (n = 60) reported lower PedsQL scores than those of normal-weight peers. The negative effects were even larger in OW/OB participants with more than one CRF. Body mass index z-scores and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were negatively correlated with overall and subscales of PedsQL (r = - 0.283 to - 0.431). Multivariate linear models showed ALT to be the most salient factor associated with poor obesity-related HRQOL.

Conclusion: Taiwanese OW/OB adolescents, particularly those having additional CRF, reported worse HRQOL. Impaired liver functions may predispose OW/OB subjects to even worse HRQOL.

Keywords: Adolescent; Cardiometabolic risk; Health-related quality of life; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The participants and their guardians or parents were required to give their written informed consents. All the procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board of National Cheng Kung University Hospital.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

We have nothing to disclose.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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