Overview of the relationship between pain and obesity: What do we know? Where do we go next?

Overweight/obesity and pain are significant problems of increasing prevalence; understanding the relationship between the two is the focus of a growing body of research. Findings from this review support a likely relationship between increasing weight and pain conditions such as osteoarthritis and l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of rehabilitation research and development 2007-01, Vol.44 (2), p.245-262
Main Authors: Janke, E Amy, Collins, Allison, Kozak, Andrea T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Back pain
Backache
Care and treatment
Chronic illnesses
Clinical outcomes
Comorbidity
Fibromyalgia
Health Behavior
Humans
Life Style
Low Back Pain - complications
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Mortality
Obesity
Obesity - complications
Obesity - therapy
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis - complications
Pain
Pain - complications
Pain Management
Primary care
Quality of Life
Rheumatoid arthritis
Risk factors
United States
Veterans
Weight Loss
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Overweight/obesity and pain are significant problems of increasing prevalence; understanding the relationship between the two is the focus of a growing body of research. Findings from this review support a likely relationship between increasing weight and pain conditions such as osteoarthritis and low back pain. Longitudinal studies suggest overweight/obesity early in life is a risk factor for pain, and the co-occurrence of pain and overweight/obesity negatively affects quality of life. The mechanism of relationship is unknown but is hypothesized to include mechanical and metabolic abnormalities, possibly secondary to lifestyle choices. Observations from a few studies demonstrate that treatments for obesity reduce pain secondary to weight loss. Few studies examine both pain and weight as primary outcomes, and variability in measurement makes comparisons and conclusions difficult. Research should focus on expanding knowledge about mechanisms of the relationship between pain and obesity, testing explanatory models addressing their co-occurrence, and developing treatments that most effectively target this comorbidity.
ISSN:0748-7711
1938-1352
DOI:10.1682/jrrd.2006.06.0060