The Relationship between Body Mass Index and Hospital Admission at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Age and Gender Differences

摘要

Aim of the work: obesity is recognized as a worldwide epidemic causing various chronic disease and high mortality rate. This study aimed to find out the relationship between BMI and hospital admission. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study. 968 participants who came to KAUH during July 2017 have been enrolled. Among the sample, 504 (52.1%) were inpatients, while the rest were apparently healthy participants found in the hospital including hospital visitors and relatives of the patients. The body measurements were taken. Chi square, t-test, and one-way ANOVA test were used. Results: among the sample, 452 (46.9%) were female. Based on BMI categories for all participants 70 (7.2%) were underweight, 298 (30.8%) had normal weight, 310 (32%) were overweight, and 290 (30%) were obese. There was no association between BMI and hospital admission among total sample. However, an association between BMI and being admitted with each gender separately have been found (p 0.05). There was a significant relationship between gender and admission (P0.05), which revealed that females are more common to be admitted than males. Conclusion: taken each gender on its own, there was a relationship between the increasing BMI and being hospitalized. However, there was no association in between when both genders were compared one to the other. Such a conclusion, signify the need for more health campaigns to educate the general population on the possible harmful consequences of being obese. Considering the controversy between previous studies on this topic, more studies are suggested to be conducted.