A large portion of dermatologic diagnosis patients are obese, a recent study found, and awareness could lead to interventions that may improve their disease and decrease risk of comorbidities. Researchers examined data from the 2005 to 2011 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), searching for the most common dermatologic diagnoses of which body mass index (BMI) could be classified. They found:

• For all dermatologic visits, 10% were underweight, 36.5% were normal weight, 23.8% were overweight, and 29.7% were obese.

• Increasing age predicted the yearly increased likelihood of obesity.

• Logistic regression controlling for age, sex, race, and dataset found that in addition to age, NHAMCS dermatologic diagnosis patients were more likely to be obese than NAMCS patients.

• Specific diseases were found to have the highest obesity rates, including psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and acanthosis nigricans.

Citation: Fleischer AB Jr. Characterization of obesity rates for dermatologic ambulatory office visits to United States physicians. [Published online ahead of print May 31, 2016]. J Dermatolog. doi:10.1080/09546634.2016.1187707.