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. 2020 Jun 22;17(12):4478.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124478.

Association of Pain, Severe Pain, and Multisite Pain with the Level of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Severely Obese Adults: Baseline Data from the DieTBra Trial

Carolina Rodrigues Mendonça  1 , Matias Noll  2 , Ana Paula Dos Santos Rodrigues  1 , Priscila Valverde de Oliveira Vitorino  3 , Márcio de Almeida Mendes  4 , Erika Aparecida Silveira  1
Affiliations

Association of Pain, Severe Pain, and Multisite Pain with the Level of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Severely Obese Adults: Baseline Data from the DieTBra Trial

Carolina Rodrigues Mendonça et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the prevalence of pain, severe pain, and pain in four or more regions associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior, as well as other associated factors in severely obese adults (Body Mass Index ≥ 35 kg/m2). Baseline data from the DieTBra Trial were analyzed. The outcome variables were pain (yes/no) and pain in four or more sites (yes/no), as identified by the Brazilian version of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, along with the presence of severe pain (yes/no), identified based on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (≥8). The main independent variables were moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity, and sedentary behavior, assessed by triaxial accelerometry. The variables were analyzed using multiple hierarchical Poisson regression. In 150 individuals (men, 14.67%; and women, 85.33%), with a mean age of 39.6 ± 0.7 years, there was a high prevalence of pain (89.33%), severe pain (69.33%), and pain in four or more regions (53.33%). The associated factors were shorter MVPA time with pain (p = 0.010); arthritis/arthrosis (p = 0.007) and the use of muscle relaxants (p = 0.026) with severe pain; and economic class C (p = 0.033), and economic class D (p = 0.003), along with arthritis and arthrosis (p = 0.025) with pain in four or more sites. There were no significant associations between sedentary behavior and any of the three outcomes analyzed. These findings indicate that, in severely obese individuals, shorter MVPA time is associated with a higher prevalence of pain. Future studies on physical activity intervention may contribute to the reduction in the prevalence and severity of pain in adults with severe obesity.

Keywords: arthritis; central; morbid obesity; muscle relaxants; musculoskeletal pain; sedentary lifestyle.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Boxplot of time spent on moderate to vigorous physical activity by obese patients without and with pain, intensity, and four or more painful sites. *°outliers
Figure 2
Figure 2
Boxplot of time spent on light physical activity by obese patients without and with pain, intensity, and four or more painful sites. °outliers
Figure 3
Figure 3
Boxplot of time spent in sedentary behavior by obese patients without and with pain, intensity, and four or more painful sites. °outliers
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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