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Facing obesity in pain rehabilitation clinics : Profiles of physical activity in patients with chronic pain and obesity—A study from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation (SQRP)

Dong, Huan Ji ; Larsson, Britt LU ; Fischer, Marcelo Rivano LU and Gerdle, Björn (2020) In PLoS ONE 15(9 September).
Abstract

Background The obesity epidemic has influenced pain rehabilitation clinics. To date, little is known about baseline level of physical activity (PA) in patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics. We aimed to investigate the PA levels of patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics and to evaluate the effect of excess weight on PA level. Methods and findings Data were obtained from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation between 2016 and 2017. These data included PA time (everyday PA and physical exercise per week), Body Mass Index (BMI), sociodemographic factors, chronic pain and psychological aspects (e.g., pain intensity, depressive and anxiety symptoms and insomnia problems). Insufficient PA was defined as less... (More)

Background The obesity epidemic has influenced pain rehabilitation clinics. To date, little is known about baseline level of physical activity (PA) in patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics. We aimed to investigate the PA levels of patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics and to evaluate the effect of excess weight on PA level. Methods and findings Data were obtained from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation between 2016 and 2017. These data included PA time (everyday PA and physical exercise per week), Body Mass Index (BMI), sociodemographic factors, chronic pain and psychological aspects (e.g., pain intensity, depressive and anxiety symptoms and insomnia problems). Insufficient PA was defined as less than 150 minutes per week. We performed logistic regressions as well as orthogonal partial least square regression to estimate the effects of excess weight on PA. Over one-fourth of the patients were classified as obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2, 871/3110, 25.3%) and nearly one-third of these patients were classified as severely obese (BMI ≥35 kg/m2, 242/871, 27.8%). Time estimations for physical exercise varied among the BMI groups, but patients in the higher BMI category were more likely to spend less time on everyday PA. Compared to normal weight, mild obesity [odds ratio (OR) 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–0.81] and severe obesity (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.42–0.74) were associated with less PA. Mild obese patients had an elevated risk of 65% and severe obese patients had an elevated risk of 96% for insufficient PA. Increased pain intensity was positively related to insufficient PA (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06–1.29) among the obese patients. Conclusion Having low PA is very common for patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics, especially for those with comorbid obesity. As a first step to increase PA, obese patients need to be encouraged to increase the intensity and amount of less painful daily PA.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
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in
PLoS ONE
volume
15
issue
9 September
article number
e0239818
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85092051093
  • pmid:32986777
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0239818
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
de78afeb-0f8e-4b34-b2ab-04dea49e0d70
date added to LUP
2020-11-03 10:23:18
date last changed
2024-05-29 22:43:49
@article{de78afeb-0f8e-4b34-b2ab-04dea49e0d70,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background The obesity epidemic has influenced pain rehabilitation clinics. To date, little is known about baseline level of physical activity (PA) in patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics. We aimed to investigate the PA levels of patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics and to evaluate the effect of excess weight on PA level. Methods and findings Data were obtained from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation between 2016 and 2017. These data included PA time (everyday PA and physical exercise per week), Body Mass Index (BMI), sociodemographic factors, chronic pain and psychological aspects (e.g., pain intensity, depressive and anxiety symptoms and insomnia problems). Insufficient PA was defined as less than 150 minutes per week. We performed logistic regressions as well as orthogonal partial least square regression to estimate the effects of excess weight on PA. Over one-fourth of the patients were classified as obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, 871/3110, 25.3%) and nearly one-third of these patients were classified as severely obese (BMI ≥35 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, 242/871, 27.8%). Time estimations for physical exercise varied among the BMI groups, but patients in the higher BMI category were more likely to spend less time on everyday PA. Compared to normal weight, mild obesity [odds ratio (OR) 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–0.81] and severe obesity (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.42–0.74) were associated with less PA. Mild obese patients had an elevated risk of 65% and severe obese patients had an elevated risk of 96% for insufficient PA. Increased pain intensity was positively related to insufficient PA (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06–1.29) among the obese patients. Conclusion Having low PA is very common for patients referred to pain rehabilitation clinics, especially for those with comorbid obesity. As a first step to increase PA, obese patients need to be encouraged to increase the intensity and amount of less painful daily PA.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dong, Huan Ji and Larsson, Britt and Fischer, Marcelo Rivano and Gerdle, Björn}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9 September}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Facing obesity in pain rehabilitation clinics : Profiles of physical activity in patients with chronic pain and obesity—A study from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation (SQRP)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239818}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0239818}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}