The impact of body mass index on treatment outcomes among traumatic brain injury patients in intensive care units

Purpose: Obesity is a risk factor in treatment outcomes of critically ill patients. This study was conducted to determine the impact of obesity on the likelihood of recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Methods: We carried out a prospective study on 115 head injury patients who were admitted to the ICU of Poursina Hospital, Rasht, in the one-year period between July 2006 and June 2007. Obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) were compared with non-obese patients (BMI < 30 kg/m(2)). Demographic information, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation scores, Injury Severity Scores (ISS), Glasgow Coma Scale scores, and ICU mortality incidences were recorded.

Results: Obese patients had significantly higher ICU mortality rates compared to non-obese patients (p = 0.02). Furthermore, we observed a trend towards a higher ICU mortality rate in obese patients with ISS > 25 (p = 0.04). Moreover, obesity was associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay (ILOS), and hospital length of stay (HLOS) (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Obesity was associated with increased ICU mortality and prolonged dependency on mechanical ventilation, ILOS, and HLOS in patients with TBI. However, further prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to substantiate these findings.