Exercise Capacity and Dyspnea in Obese Patients With Metabolic Syndrome: Effects of Weight Loss

University of Ottawa

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome

Treatments: Other: Weight Management Program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03035149

2005213-01H

Details and patient eligibility

About

Dyspnea is a common complaint in obese patients. The mechanisms behind this dyspnea and the effects of weight loss on dyspnea are not completely understood. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationships between exercise parameters and dyspnea in obesity and assess the effects of weight loss.

The investigators compared pulmonary function, exercise performance and dyspnea in 34 patients with abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) against 34 age and sex-matched controls. The study also assessed within-group changes in physiology and symptoms in a subset of patients following participation in a weight management program.

Because obesity is a heterogeneous condition, with variable genetic associations, co-morbidities and distributions of adipose tissue, the study focused on patients with abdominal obesity who met diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome.

Full description

The study has two parts: first, the investigators compared dyspnea, pulmonary function and exercise measurements between obese patients and control subjects with normal weight; then, the investigators assessed the effects of medical weight loss in the obese group on these parameters. Baseline dyspnea was assessed using the baseline dyspnea index.The effect of weight loss on dyspnea was assessed using the transitional dyspnea index. The main physiologic measurement of interest was the inspiratory capacity (L, measured at rest and during exercise).

Enrollment: 68 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 20 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Individuals accepted into the behavioural weight management program at the Ottawa Hospital Bariatric Centre

• Age between 20 and 60 years

• BMI greater than 30

• Abdominal girth (for females) greater than 88 cm

• Abdominal girth (for males) greater than 102 cm

• Plus any two of the other criteria for Metabolic Syndrome:

  i.e. Blood Pressure greater or equal to 130/85; Fasting Glucose greater or equal to 6.1 mmol/L

• Controls-normal weight (NW) and sedentary

Exclusion criteria

• Smoker
• Any medical conditions which would affect exercise performance
• Use of medications that could affect exercise performance (i.e. Beta-blockers)
• Inability to pedal on a cycle ergometer and provide reproducible inspiratory capacity (IC) measurements

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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68 participants in 2 patient groups

Weight Management Program

Experimental group

Description:

Obese subjects participate in a year long medically supervised weight management program.

Treatment:

Other: Weight Management Program

Normal Weight Controls

No Intervention group

Description:

Normal weight age and sex-matched controls. Unlike the obese subjects, the controls did not participate in the Weight Management Program. Pulmonary function, exercise performance and dyspnea results for normal weight controls were compared against the results for obese subjects.