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. 2018 Feb 20;18(1):271.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5172-8.

Obesity and risk of respiratory tract infections: results of an infection-diary based cohort study

Livia Maccioni  1 , Susanne Weber  2 , Magdeldin Elgizouli  1 , Anne-Sophie Stoehlker  1   2 , Ilona Geist  1 , Hans-Hartmut Peter  1 , Werner Vach  2 , Alexandra Nieters  3
Affiliations

Obesity and risk of respiratory tract infections: results of an infection-diary based cohort study

Livia Maccioni et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are a major morbidity factor contributing largely to health care costs and individual quality of life. The aim of the study was to test whether obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) is one of the risk factors underlying frequent RTIs in the German adult population.

Methods: We recruited 1455 individuals between 18 to 70 years from a cross-sectional survey on airway infections in Germany and invited them to self-report in diaries incident RTIs experienced during three consecutive winter/spring seasons. RTIs reported in these 18 months and summary measures adding-up individual RTIs were the outcomes of interest.

Results: Compared to individuals with normal weight, obese individuals reported a consistently higher frequency of upper and lower RTIs and predominantly fell in the upper 10% group of a diary sumscore adding-up 10 different RTI symptoms over time. Obesity was associated both with lower RTIs (adjustedOR = 2.02, 95%CI = 1.36-3.00) and upper RTIs (adjustedOR = 1.55, 95%CI = 1.22-1.96). Adjusting for demographic and lifestyle variables did only marginally affect ORs. Stratified analyses suggested a stronger association for women and effect modifications by sports activity and dietary habits.

Conclusions: We confirm the association of obesity with infection burden and present evidence for putative interaction with sports activity and dietary patterns.

Keywords: Adult respiratory tract infections; Diary; Effect modification; Life style factors; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by community officials and the Ethics Committee of the University of Freiburg (Ref. No. 258/11_120365). Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

No individual details or images are included in the present study. Consent to publish in not required.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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

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