title: The benefits of body weight loss on health-related quality of life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is a worldwide public health issue, and the prevalence of obesity is also increasing steadily in Taiwan. Obesity leads to several chronic diseases. Often, impaired quality of life is a consequence of obesity. The aim of this study was to determine if body weight-loss could improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cutoff for obesity is body mass index (BMI) = 27 as compared with 30 in US and Europe. We enrolled 67 participants with BMI ≥ 27 and more than one criterion of the metabolic syndrome, who underwent 3 months of body weight-loss intervention by diet control and regular exercise. We performed anthropometric measurements and blood tests, and administered the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire Taiwanese version to assess HRQOL before and after the weight loss intervention. This is the first study using the WHOQOL-BREF to examine HRQOL in Taiwan. The questionnaire included D1 physical, D2 psychological, D3 social relationships and D4 environmental domains; each was scored from 4 to 20.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Obese subjects had lower D1 and D2 scores as compared with the Taiwan healthy population reference group at baseline. In this study, 38 participants completed the 3-month intervention program and 29 participants dropped out. Twenty-five participants reached the 5% of initial BMI goal. Among them, significant statistical improvements were found both in medical comorbidities and in the four domains of the HRQOL questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity can cause impaired HRQOL, which can be improved through BMI intervention. In addition to the benefits of biomedical aspect, this could be an incentive goal for keeping body weight control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. philia81301@yahoo.com.tw
authors.forename: Hsiang-Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Beatriz M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geliebter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D015431:Weight Loss