ObjectivesIncreasing obesity has been associated with a higher frequency of symptoms at midlife. Bothersomeness represents an important measure of perceived symptom severity, but has received relatively little consideration, and relationships between symptom bothersomeness and obesity are not known. We evaluated the association between body fat percentage (%BF) and the bothersomeness of symptoms at midlife.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study included women aged 40–60 in Qatar (n = 841). Participants reported frequency and bothersomeness of midlife symptoms hypothesized to be related to body composition. Initially, we characterized the relationship between continuous %BF and presence (yes/no) and bothersomeness (yes/no) for each symptom using restricted cubic spline (RCS) models to test nonlinearity. Subsequently, we used multinomial logistic regressions to evaluate associations between %BF and multilevel symptom outcomes, where categories were: (a) no symptoms or bother, (b) symptoms without bothersomeness, and (c) symptoms with bothersomeness.ResultsThe highest frequency of bothersomeness was reported for aches/stiffness in joints (51%), followed by trouble sleeping (34%), night sweats (21%), urinary incontinence (18%), hot flashes (16%), and shortness of breath (15%). In unadjusted multinomial logistic regressions, aches/stiffness in joints with and without bothersomeness had the same significant relationship with %BF. Bothersome night sweats, urinary incontinence, and hot flashes were significantly associated with %BF (p < .05), but those same symptoms without bothersomeness were not significantly associated with %BF.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that bothersomeness is an important variable that tracks with body fat and gives different information than report of the presence/absence of a symptom alone.

中文翻译：

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与身体脂肪百分比相关的中年烦人症状

目的 肥胖的增加与中年症状的出现频率较高有关。烦人是衡量症状严重程度的重要指标，但受到的关注相对较少，并且症状烦人与肥胖之间的关系尚不清楚。我们评估了体脂百分比 (%BF) 与中年烦人症状之间的关联。方法这项横断面研究纳入了卡塔尔 40-60 岁的女性（n= 841）。参与者报告了中年症状的频率和困扰，这些症状被认为与身体成分有关。最初，我们使用限制三次样条 (RCS) 模型来测试非线性，描述了每种症状的连续 %BF 与存在性（是/否）和烦扰性（是/否）之间的关系。随后，我们使用多项 Logistic 回归来评估 %BF 与多级症状结果之间的关联，其中类别为：(a) 无症状或烦恼，(b) 无烦恼的症状，以及 (c) 有烦恼的症状。结果烦恼的最高频率据报告，关节疼痛/僵硬（51%），其次是睡眠困难（34%）、盗汗（21%）、尿失禁（18%）、潮热（16%）和呼吸短促（15%） ）。在未经调整的多项逻辑回归中，有或没有不适的关节疼痛/僵硬与 %BF 具有相同的显着关系。烦人的盗汗、尿失禁和潮热与 %BF 显着相关（p< .05)，但那些没有烦恼的相同症状与 %BF 没有显着相关。结论我们的研究结果表明，烦恼是跟踪身体脂肪的重要变量，并提供与单独报告存在/不存在症状不同的信息。