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Weight change and quality of life in a community-based population

Saskia P. J. Verkleij¹, Marcel C. Adriaanse¹, Gerrie C. W. Wendel-Vos² & Albertine J. Schuit³

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1. Institute of Health Sciences, VU University Amsterdam
2. Center for Prevention and Health Services Research, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
3. Center for Public Health Forecasting, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

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Date:

Received 29 November 2008 23:24 UTC; Posted 02 December 2008

Subjects:

Neuroscience

Tags:

• RAND-36
• Quality of Life
• weight change
• Body Mass Index

Abstract:

Objectives: This study investigates the longitudinal association between 5-year weight change and quality of life (QoL) in Dutch men and women.

Design: A prospective cohort study (1998, 2000, 2003) in a population based sample. Subjects: 2,414 men and women from the Maastricht region of the Netherlands.

Measurements: QoL outcomes were measured by the RAND-36 (eight subscales and two overall composite scores, physical and mental health (PCS and MCS)). Weight was measured on a scale. Weight change was calculated as change in weight between 1998 and 2003. In addition, 5-year weight change was also categorized in three groups: weight losers, weight maintainers, and weight gainers. All analyses were stratified for gender.

Results: A total of 598 men (50%) and 646 women (54%) maintained their weight, 177 men (15%) and 163 women (14%) lost more than 2.5 kg, and 410 men (35%) and 379 women (32%) gained more than 2.5 kg. Associations between 5-year weight change and QoL were found for MCS (β = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.02|0.24) in women, and PCS (β = -0.09, 95% CI: -0.17|-0.00; β = -0.10, 95% CI: -0.19|-0.01) in men and women respectively. Moreover, associations between weight change and QoL were most pronounced for women of normal weight and obese men. Furthermore, in both genders, weight gainers showed a greater reduction on all physical components of QoL compared with weight maintainers. However, after 5-years weight gainers and weight losers did not significantly differ from weight maintainers in the mean change of MCS and PCS.

Conclusion: Weight gain was inversely associated with the physical domains of QoL in women and obese men. Conversely, in women, weight gain was positively associated with the mental domains of QoL. No differences between weight losers and weight gainers were found in mean change of QoL compared with weight maintainers.

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

Verkleij, Saskia, Adriaanse, Marcel, Wendel-Vos, Gerrie, and Schuit, Albertine. Weight change and quality of life in a community-based population. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.2583.1> (2008)

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