1Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
2House-Surgeon, Department of Physiology, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
*Corresponding author: Dr. P Vijetha, M.D Physiology, Assistant professor, Department of Physiology, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh-524003 Ph.no: 9492187458, e-mail: drvjth1@gmail.com
Online published on 11 February, 2016.
Fat accumulation in thoracic and abdominal cavities changes respiratory function which may lead to reduced functional capacity.
In view of alarming rise in overweight and obesity globally and scanty data in the above mentioned deterioration, the present study is done to evaluate the pulmonary function, functional capacity and its association with visceral fat in overweight individuals.
This is a cross sectional study in which pulmonary function, functional capacity are assessed in 40 healthy volunteers (controls) and 40 overweight individuals (study group), measured for the following: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1), and forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the FVC (FEF25–75) from the forced expiratory volume curve by the spirometry, and the body composition by the bioelectrical impedance method. Correlation and a multiple linear regression, between the body composition and pulmonary function, were used.
The results of this study demonstrate significant difference in pulmonary function, functional capacity and negatively correlated with visceral fat in over weight individuals.
In overweight individuals, visceral fat is associated with reduced pulmonary function and functional capacity.
Pulmonary Function Tests; Body mass index, Body Composition, visceral fat%, functional capacity
