• Amir Mari, Wisam Sbeit, Haya Haddad, Wisam Abboud, Rinaldo Pellicano, and Tawfik Khoury.
• Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Nazareth Hospital, EMMS, Nazareth, Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
• Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. 2022 Mar 30; 132 (3).

IntroductionThe prevalence of colonic diverticulosis and diverticulitis has significantly increased in recent years. Obesity is a well‑known risk factor for diverticulitis, but far less is known about the association between diverticulitis and overweight.ObjectiveWe aimed to examine the association between overweight and diverticulitis and to study the potential relationship between body mass index (BMI) and disease severity.Patients And MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, multicenter study. Patients diagnosed with diverticulosis confirmed by colonoscopy were included. The diagnosis of diverticulitis was confirmed by computed tomography. Weight status was defined as normal in the case of BMI in the range of 18.5- 24.9 kg/m2, overweight when BMI was 25-29.9 kg/m2, and obesity with BMI equal or above 30 kg/m2.ResultsThe study included 592 patients. Among them, 157 (26.5%) had normal BMI, 191 (32.3%) were overweight, and 244 (41.2%) were obese. Patients with BMI above the normal range, overweight and obese were at higher odds of acute diverticulitis as compared with those with normal BMI. This was evidenced by the values of odds ratio (OR) 3.10 (95% CI, 2.00-4.73; P <0.001) for weight above the normal range, OR 1.85 (95% CI, 1.14-3.00; P = 0.01) for overweight, and OR 4.50 (95% CI, 2.84-7.12; P <0.001) for obese patients.ConclusionsOverweight was associated with an increased risk of diverticulitis among patients with diverticulosis. Since overweight is a modifiable factor, this observation has preventive importance.

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