Anthropometric nutritional status and quality of life in students with asthma

Aims: To investigate the relationship between anthropometric status and quality of life in children with asthma. Methods: Case-control study, including students from third to eighth grade of elementary school at the city of Ijui, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The first phase of the study consisted of a cross-sectional study, when a questionnaire of screening was sent to the students' homes to be completed by the parents or guardians, aiming to identify children with asthma, which were allocated to the group of cases (positive responses to cough, wheezing without colds, use of any medication for asthma in the last 12 months and/or medical diagnosis of asthma). For the control group, students matched by sex and age whose responses were negative for asthma were selected, at the rate of two controls for each case. The children received home visits from trained researchers, who presented to the participants and their parents/guardians a questionnaire about health related quality of life. Evaluation of anthropometric status was carried out at the schools by the researchers. Results: In the first phase od the study 1,691 students were investigated, and 184 (10.8%) were classified as having asthma. Of these, 486 students responded to the questionnaire of quality of life: 122 with asthma and 364 controls. Anthropometric assessment was performed in 414 children (106 cases and 308 controls). Eutrophic children totaled 237 (57.2%), low weight 8 (1.9%), overweight 90 (21.7%) and obese 79 (19.1%). Overweight/obesity was observed in 49 (46.2%) students of the group with asthma and in 120 (38.9%) in the control group (p< 0.001). When comparing the quality of life between the groups, lower scores were observed among the asthma group in the physical well-being domain (p< 0.001) and in the total score of quality of life (p= 0.003). In children with asthma plus overweight/obesity, the mean score on the physical well-being domain was lower when compared to the group without asthma and eutrophic (p= 0.010). Conclusions: When comparing students between seven and 18 years with or without history of asthma, asthma was associated with poor quality of life. Considering overweight and obesity as comorbidities, quality of life was worse for this group of students in the physical wellbeing domain.