Correlation between body mass index and cardiac parameters in obese and non obese critically ill patients at Cairo university hospitals
Background : Obesity  is  associated  with an  increased  risk  of  morbidity and mortality  as  well  as  reduced  life  expectancy .   Association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and cardiovascular diseases has been consistently observed, but remain poorly understood possibly because of interactions with other influencing factors. One unresolved question is whether there is a linear relationship. The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between BMI and cardiac parameters among obese and non obese critically ill patients at Cairo university hospitals. Methods: A descriptive exploratory research design was utilized in   this study.   a purposive sample  of 115  male and 70 female obese patients with body Mass Index > 30 kg/m2 and also 98 male and 33 female  non obese patients with body Mass Index of 18.50 – 24.99 kg/m2 were selected  from three intensive care units which were; medical ICU , emergency ICU,  and coronary ICU . Parameters such as heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure and pulse blood pressure were assessed. . Results: the mean ages of  subjects were largely similar irrespective of sex (53-55 years).The study findings revealed that there is no significant correlation what so ever between cardiac parameters and body mass index in both obese and non obese males and females. In addition, there is positive   correlation between age and body mass index among obese male(r=0.2, p=0.01). Moreover, there is significant statistical difference between non obese male and female as regards   height, systolic pressure, and pulse pressure. However, the present study findings revealed increased frequencies of chronic diseases as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart diseases and stroke among obese patients as compared to non obese patients. Conclusion: There is no correlation between body mass index and cardiac parameters among obese and non obese critically ill patients. Recommendation: More research is needed to evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular diseases on a large probability samples to ensure generalization of results. Key Words : body mass index, cardiac parameters, obese and non obese.