Obesity is associated with bronchial hyper-responsiveness in women

The study's objective was to compare the bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) between those with normal and increased weight and evaluate if the association was sex-specific. In this cross-sectional review of methacholine challenge test results of 1,141 adults for evaluation of respiratory symptoms, logistic regression analysis was conducted to adjust for covariates. When compared to normal weight, overweight or obese women showed a higher prevalence of symptomatic BHR with odds ratios of 1.63 (95% C.I. 1.16-2.29). This association was not seen in men, with a significant sex-specific interaction. This study shows a sex-specific association between symptomatic BHR and overweight or obese status.