Underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of asthma in the morbidly obese

Summary Background The prevalence of obesity and asthma has increased concurrently over the last decades, suggesting a link between obesity and asthma. However, asthma might not be adequately diagnosed in this population. Aim To investigate whether not only overdiagnosis but also underdiagnosis of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Respiratory medicine 2013-09, Vol.107 (9), p.1356-1364
Main Authors: van Huisstede, Astrid, Castro Cabezas, Manuel, van de Geijn, Gert-Jan M, Mannaerts, Guido H, Njo, Tjin L, Taube, Christian, Hiemstra, Pieter S, Braunstahl, Gert-Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Air pollution
Algorithms
Asthma
Asthma - complications
Asthma - diagnosis
Asthma - physiopathology
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Diagnostic Errors
Female
Gastrointestinal surgery
Humans
Hypersensitivity - diagnosis
Longitudinal Studies
Lungs
Male
Middle Aged
Misdiagnosis
Nitric oxide
Obesity
Obesity, Morbid - complications
Obesity, Morbid - physiopathology
Pulmonary/Respiratory
Respiratory Function Tests
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:Summary Background The prevalence of obesity and asthma has increased concurrently over the last decades, suggesting a link between obesity and asthma. However, asthma might not be adequately diagnosed in this population. Aim To investigate whether not only overdiagnosis but also underdiagnosis of asthma is present in an obese population. Methods Morbidly obese subjects with or without physician-diagnosed asthma were recruited from a pre-operative screening programme for bariatric surgery, and were characterized using an extensive diagnostic algorithm. Results 473 subjects were screened; 220 met inclusion criteria, and 86 agreed to participate. Among the 32 participating subjects who had a physician diagnosis of asthma, reversible airway obstruction and/or bronchial hyperresponsiveness could only be detected in 19 patients (59%, 95% CI [0.41–0.76]), whereas in 13 patients (41%, 95% CI [0.24–0.50]) the diagnosis of asthma could not be confirmed (overdiagnosis). In contrast, in the remaining 54 patients, 17 (31%, 95% CI [0.20–0.46]) were newly diagnosed with asthma (underdiagnosis). Conclusion Besides overdiagnosis, there is also substantial underdiagnosis of asthma in the morbidly obese. Symptoms could be incorrectly ascribed to either obesity or asthma, and therefore also in the morbidly obese the diagnosis of asthma should also be based on pulmonary function testing.
ISSN:0954-6111
1532-3064
DOI:10.1016/j.rmed.2013.05.007