Background

There remains a paucity in literature on the profile of Class II and above Southeast Asian patients with obesity. This study presents the prevalence of comorbidities in association with increasing BMI.

Methods

Prospectively collected data including demographics, anthropometric measurements, and comorbidities for 1573 patients who visited the weight management clinic at our institution between 2005 and 2018 were analysed. Logistic regression was conducted using SPSS Statistical Software Version 28.0.1.0 (142). BMI, age, gender, and ethnicity were considered as indicators for the prevalence of comorbidities. p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

Joint pain was the most prevalent self-reported comorbidity (54.02%) followed by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA; 27.48%). The most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension (HTN; 42.02%), followed by type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM; 26.77%), and hyperlipidaemia (HLD; 18.63%). Increasing BMI and age were associated with increased prevalence of T2DM, HTN, OSA, and joint pain. Males were 33.0%, 89.4%, and 98.4% more likely to harbour T2DM, HTN, and OSA respectively. Patients of Indian decent were 57.4% more likely to harbour T2DM when compared to Chinese. Also, they were 30.1% & 41.5% less likely to be associated with HTN & OSA, respectively.

Conclusions

In Southeast Asian patients with obesity, increasing age and BMI are associated with heightened prevalence of T2DM, HTN and self-reported OSA. The prevalence of metabolic comorbid illness is more among males, and Indian ethnicity is associated with highest prevalence of T2DM.