@article {Singanayagam1363, author = {Anika Singanayagam and Aran Singanayagan and Adam Hill and James D. Chalmers}, title = {Obesity is associated with improved outcome in community-acquired pneumonia}, volume = {40}, number = {Suppl 56}, elocation-id = {1363}, year = {2012}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Background: Obesity was shown to be an independent risk factor for adverse outcome from 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza. There is a relative paucity of information regarding whether this link applies to other pulmonary infections.We aimed to investigate whether body mass index (BMI) correlates with outcome in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of consecutive patients presenting to hospital with a primary diagnosis of CAP between January 2005 and December 2009. BMI measured on admission was used to classify patients into 2 groups: obese (BMI\>=30) and non-obese (BMI\<30). Outcomes of interest were 30-day mortality and need for mechanical ventilation or vasopressor support (MV/VS). Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare outcomes in obese patients to non-obese patients, adjusting for admission severity of illness (CURB65 criteria), diabetes mellitus, COPD and prior statin use.Results: 1079 patients were included in the study with 21\% classified as obese. Mean age was 62.5 years. There was no difference in admission severity (mean CRB65 score 1.44 vs 1.39) or immediate requirement for MV/VS between obese and non-obese groups. Despite this, obese patients had lower 30-day mortality compared with non-obese patients (6.7\% vs 10.3\%, p=0.3). After multivariable adjustment for confounders, obesity remained significantly associated with reduced 30-day mortality (OR= 0.54, 95\% CI 0.30-0.97, p=0.04).Conclusions: In our prospective study, obesity was shown to exert a protective effect on mortality from CAP. The mechanism of this effect is unclear. Further correlation from clinical and scientific studies is warranted.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/1363}, eprint = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/1363.full.pdf}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }