Obesity and ENT manifestations — a tertiary care centre study

Abstract

Abstract Background The aim of our study was to assess whether there is role of obesity in ENT diseases like otitis media effusion, chronic otitis media, chronic rhinosinusitis, sudden sensorineural hearing loss and chronic tonsillitis, or not. Methods The present prospective study, after approval by institutional ethics committee, was conducted in the Department of ENT, SMGS Hospital, GMC Jammu from January 2021 to February 2022 on 590 patients, who were divided into 6 groups — group A — otitis media with effusion (n = 95 patients), group B — chronic otitis media (n = 171 patients), group C — sudden SNHL (n = 43 patients), group D — chronic rhinosinusitis (n = 102 patients), group E — chronic tonsillitis (n = 67 patients) and group F (control group) — patients (aged 11–50 years) coming to ENT OPD with other problems, except those problems mentioned in inclusion and exclusion criteria (n = 112 patients). Severity of disease was evaluated using Adelaide Disease Severity Score (CRS patients), otoscopy and pure tone audiometry (OME and COM), pure-tone audiometry (sudden SNHL) and Brodsky grading scale (chronic tonsillitis). Mean BMI and percentage of obese patients were calculated for each group. Results The mean age of presentation in our study was 40.66 ± 7.25 years. Male to female ratio was 1:1.6 in our study. The mean BMI in control group (group F) was 22.51 ± 3.01 kg/m2. The mean BMI was 25.41 ± 2.81 kg/m2 in group A, 25.33 ± 2.34 kg/m2 in group B, 25.12 ± 3.14 kg/m2 in group C, 25.78 ± 2.33 kg/m2 in group D and 25.03 ± 1.84 kg/m2 in group E, the difference between each of these groups and control group being statistically significant (p < 0.005). The percentage of obese patients in group F was 20.5% (23 patients). The percentage of obese patients was 53.6% (51 patients) in group A, 49.7% (85 patients) in group B, 39.5% (17 patients) in group C, 54.9% (56 patients) in group D and 31.3% (21 patients) in group E. Upon comparison with group F, the difference in percentage of obese patients was statistically significant in each group. Obese patients were more likely to have otitis media with effusion (OR 1.85, 95% CI 0.15 to 6.49), chronic otitis media (OR 1.80, 95% CI 0.15 to 6.33), sudden SNHL (OR 1.62, 95% CI 0.21 to 6.40), chronic rhinosinusitis (OR 2.05, 95% CI 0.15 to 6.55) and chronic tonsillitis (OR 1.60, 95% CI 0.16–6.13), than the control group. Conclusion Obesity leads to various ENT problems by altering the immune system. In our study, mean BMI was significantly higher in patients with otitis media effusion, chronic otitis media, chronic rhinosinusitis, sudden sensorineural hearing loss and chronic tonsillitis and also, as the severity of disease increased with increase in severity of BMI, showing positive correlation for all study groups, thus establishing association of obesity and these common otorhinolaryngological conditions.