title: Quality of life among urban children with obesity and asthma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate quality of life (QoL) among obese asthmatic children and elucidate its association with lung function.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preadolescent inner-city children with obesity, asthma, both, or neither completed the Pediatric Quality of Life 4.0 (PedsQL) and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaires and spirometry testing. Spirometric indices, composite and individual QoL scores were compared between groups using analysis of variance while proportion of children reporting item-specific impairment were compared by chi-squaretest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The composite QoL scores did not differ between obese asthmatics and the other study groups. FEV1/FVC was the lowest among obese asthmatics but did not correlate with QoL measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall QoL in obese asthmatic preadolescents is well preserved. Since QoL measures did not correlate with spirometric indics, asthma severity may not serve as a surrogate marker of QoL. QoL evaluation should be incorporated in asthma management and early identification of changes may prevent further deterioration.
authors.forename: Radhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Silver
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*