OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare the frequency and severity of exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) in obese and non-obese asthmatic adolescents. METHODS: Cross-sectional and descriptive study with 39 subjects aged ten to 16 years of both genders divided into two groups according to clinical history of asthma and/or allergic rhinitis and body mass index, as follows: asthmatic obese (n=18) and asthmatic non-obese (n=21). An exercise bronchoprovocation test was applied to diagnose EIB and was considered positive if the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) decreased >15% in relation to pre-exercise FEV1. Maximum percent of fall in FEV1 (MF%FEV1) and the area above the curve (AAC0-30) were calculated to evaluate the intensity and recovery of EIB. Fisher exact test was used to compare the frequency of EIB and Mann-Whitney test to compare the severity and recovery of EIB. Null hypothesis was rejected when p<0.05. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the frequency of EIB between the asthmatic obese (50%) and non-obese (38%) adolescents. However, the MF%FEV1 and AAC0-30 were significantly higher in the asthmatic obese as compared to the asthmatic non-obese patients (respectively, 37.7% and 455 versus 24.5% e 214, p<0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity did not contribute to the increase of the frequency of EIB in asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients. However, obesity contributed to the increase of severity and recovery time of EIB in asthmatics
asthma; asthma, exercise-induced; obesity; overweight; adolescent
