Abstract

Background

The obesity epidemic is linked to substantial health care resource use, reduction in workforce and home productivity, and poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Changes in body mass index (BMI) are associated with improvements in HRQOL; the nature of this relationship, however, has not been reliably described.

Objectives

To determine the independent association between changes in BMI and change in utility-based HRQOL.

Methods

Data were prospectively collected on 500 severely obese adult patients enrolled in a single-center obesity management clinic. Univariable and multivariable linear regressions were performed, adjusting for the effect of the intervention itself, obesity-related comorbidities, BMI at enrollment, age, and sex.

Results

A 1-unit reduction in BMI was associated with a 0.0075 (95% confidence interval 0.0041–0.0109) increase in the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire score. This relationship was unaltered in various analyses, and is likely applicable to any health-care–induced changes in BMI.

Conclusions

The quantification of this association advances the understanding of the clinical benefits of interventions that affect BMI, and can inform more robust cost-utility analyses.