High body mass index does not worsen chronic pain in teens

A higher body mass index (BMI) does not appear to aggravate functioning, mood or treatment response in teenagers with disabling chronic pain, a study has found.

The study included a cohort of 355 adolescents with relatively severe nonmalignant chronic pain who underwent an intensive 3-week pain rehabilitation programme at a tertiary specialist centre. Researchers obtained objective physical measures (walk, sit-to-stand), while the patients self-reported functioning and mood.

Average BMI of the population was relatively high at 24.2 kg/m², with 20.5 percent of the patients being classified as obese. However, body mass showed no association with objective physical measures, physical or social functioning, depression, or anxiety (p-all>0.05).

There was a small association observed between higher body mass and greater pain-related fear (p<0.01). Treatment improved all variables (p<0.001) except for pain intensity.

Higher body mass did not have any impact on treatment outcome, with patients having increased BMI showing marginally greater improvements in depression (p<0.05) and pain-specific anxiety (p<0.01) during treatment.

The present data suggest that an elevated BMI exerts a null effect on chronic pain outcomes in adolescents, according to the researchers.

Both childhood obesity and chronic pain are stigmatized conditions, so physicians have to avoid pointing to high body mass alone a causal factor in the struggles of a youth’s with chronic pain, they added.