Body Weights in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease and the Obesity Frequency

• Published in: The American journal of cardiology Vol. 119; no. 4; pp. 638 - 642
• Main Authors: Lerman, Joseph B., BA, Parness, Ira A., MD, Shenoy, Rajesh U., MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.02.2017; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age; Aged; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Cardiovascular; Cardiovascular disease; Case-Control Studies; Classification; Congenital diseases; Ethnicity; Female; Gender; Heart; Heart Defects, Congenital - epidemiology; Humans; Male; Middle age; Middle Aged; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity, Morbid - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Overweight - epidemiology; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; United States - epidemiology; Adult Congenital Heart Disease; Obesity; Congenital Heart Disease
• ISSN: 0002-9149; 1879-1913
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.10.050

Abstract Obesity may associate with greater cardiovascular risk in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) than in the general population. As ACHD often have exercise limitations, they may be uniquely predisposed to obesity. Nevertheless, obesity prevalence in ACHD, as compared to the general population, has not been quantified in a large US cohort. Hence, we sought to determine the prevalence of obesity (30≤ BMI <40), and morbid obesity (BMI ≥40), in a large cohort of ACHD, as compared to matched controls. Retrospective analysis was thus performed on all ACHD seen in an academic system in 2013. CHD severity was classified as simple, complex, or unclassified, using recently published criteria. A control group without CHD was randomly generated matching for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. 1,451 ACHD met inclusion criteria. 59.5% of ACHD were overweight to morbidly obese. Compared to controls, ACHD had similar prevalence of overweight, OR 1.04 (95% CI 0.89–1.22, p=0.63), and obesity, OR 0.96 (95% CI 0.81–1.15, p=0.69), but lower prevalence of morbid obesity OR 0.24 (95% CI 0.16–0.34, p<0.001). These relationships were not attenuated by adjustment for CHD severity. In conclusion, ACHD are at equal risk as their matched peers to be overweight and obese. This is the largest study of obesity in US ACHD, and the highest reported obesity prevalence in ACHD to date. As obesity is associated with significant cardiovascular risk, our findings indicate a need for improved lifestyle counseling in CHD patients of all ages.