Comparison of Health Related Quality of Life between Normal-Weight and Women with Excess Body Weight

Background: Excess body weight is one of the most seriouspublic health challenges in Iran. Some studies demonstratedthat increasing body weight worsened all aspect of health relatedquality of life (HRQOL); these studies were mostly conductedin western countries. In contrast, others showed that obesityis adversely associated with physical but not mental HRQOL.The aim of this study is to compare HRQOL between normalweight and women with excess body weight.Materials and Methods: Participants were selected fromamong women aged ۱۸-۴۰ years, attending gynecologic centersaffiliated to Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences inTehran for their annual gynecological exam. Exclusion criteriaincluded pregnancy, breastfeeding, chronic disease or cancer.None of the women had history of depression or anxiety. Obesitywas defined based on body mass index (BMI) and the Iranianversion of the short form health survey ۳۶ (SF ۳۶), used forassessing HRQOL. BMI levels were classified as follows: BMI۱۸-۲۴.۹ kg/m² as normal, and BMI ≥ ۲۵ kg/m² as overweightor obese. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and MANOVA. Therelationship between BMI and domains score of SF۳۶ was examinedusing the Pearson correlation test.Results: ۴۲۸ women including ۲۲۸ overweight or obese and۲۰۰ normal weight completed study. Mean BMI was ۲۶.۵ ± ۳.۲kg/m۲. After adjusting for age, parity, marital status and educationallevels, results showed that the normal weight women hadsignificantly higher bodily pain (BP) (۸۹.۴ ± ۲.۳ vs. ۷۰.۲ ± ۲.۴),physical functioning (PF) (۸۲.۴ ± ۲.۴ vs. ۷۳.۵ ± ۱.۵), physicalcomponent summary scales (PCS) (۸۳.۳ ± ۱.۳ vs. ۷۰.۹ ±۱.۷) scores than overweight or obese ones (P<۰.۰۵). The scoresin other physical and mental aspects of HRQOL didn’t differbetween two BMI categories. There was a significant correlationbetween BMI and BP, r=-۰.۴۷, PF, r=-۰.۲, PCS, r=-۰.۳۲,(P<۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: The results of study showed negative impact ofexcess body weight on physical aspect of HRQOL.

کلیدواژه ها:

Health-Related Quality of Life ، Body Mass Index ، Obesity ، Overweight