Which obesity phenotypes predict poor health-related quality of life in adult men and women? Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the association between different obesity phenotypes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Tehranian men and women. METHODS: The participants of this study were 2880 healthy adults (aged>19 years) who participated in Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS). To obtain socio-demographic and HRQoL information, participants were interviewed by trained interviewers and were stratified by body mass index categories and metabolic status. Dysmetabolic status was defined as having either metabolic syndrome or diabetes according to the Joint Interim Statement definition and American Diabetes Association. Poor HRQoL was defined as the first quartile of HRQoL scores and logistic regression analysis was used to compare sex-specific odds ratios. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 47.7±15.6 and 47.8±14.2 years in men and women respectively. The most and the least common obesity phenotypes were overweight-normal metabolic status and normal weight-dysmetabolic status, respectively. Only mean scores for physical HRQoL were significantly different among obesity phenotypes in both men and women (p<0.05). In addition, after adjusting for age, marital status, level of education, job status and physical activity, the odds of reporting poor physical HRQoL was significantly higher in men (OR: 1.960, 95% CI: 1.037–3.704; p<0.05) and women (OR: 2.887, 95% CI: 1.674–4.977; p<0.001) with obese-dysmetabolic status, compared to their counterparts with normal weight-normal metabolic status. However, except for overweight-normal metabolic women, who were less likely to report poor mental HRQoL (OR: 0.638, 95% CI: 0.415–0.981; p<0.05), none of the phenotypes were associated with poor mental HRQoL in either gender. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to those with normal weight normal metabolic status, only obese dysmetabolic individuals were more likely to report poor physical HRQoL in both genders.