Association of Body Mass Index with Neck Circumference and Snoring in Adult Patients with Hypertrophic Tonsils

Objective: We aimed to determine association of Body mass index (BMI) with neck circumference and snoring in patients with hypertrophic tonsils. Study Design: Cross-sectional research. Settings: Ear Nose and Throat Department of a tertiary care hospital situated in Karachi Pakistan. Duration: January to July 2021. Methods: It was a cross-sectional research and non-probability consecutive sampling technique was utilized for data collection. A written informed consent was obtained by each enrolled participant following by recording of data by filling subject valuation proforma. Detailed history of participants and anthropometric data was noted followed by grading of tonsils during oral examination. The study was conducted at Otorhinolaryngology department of PNS Shifa hospital from January to July 2021.Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 23.0 software. Results: The current study enrolled adult subjects (n=54) with hypertrophic tonsils between 18-60 years with mean age of 25.72 ± 7.9 SD. There were 29 (54%) males and 25(46%) females. There were 31(57%) subjects with normal BMI, 14(26%) overweight and 9 (17%) obese subjects. There were 24(44%) snorers and 30(55.5%) non-snorers. Regarding neck circumference 1(3%) male had neck circumference ≥42 cm whereas 28(97%) had neck circumference ≤ 37.5 cm. Statistically significant association was observed when compared BMI and snorers p-value 0.001, whereas regarding neck circumference significant association with BMI was observed in females (p-value 0.0001) as compared to males (p-value 0.310). Conclusion: Snoring was associated with raised BMI whereas increased neck circumference in females was seen to be associated with raised BMI as compared to male individuals. It is important to consider these anthropometric measurements when assessing patients with obstructive sleep apnea.