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Obesity associated with reduced disc height
Researchers have found an association between obesity and reduced disc height in the lumbar spine; however, this association did not hold true at the lumbosacral junction.
The cross-sectional, community-based study included 72 participants, of whom 41 were non-obese and 31 were obese. All patients underwent MRI from the T12 vertebral body to the sacrum. The researchers measured body mass index and disc height from L1–L2 to L5–S1, and assessed low back pain reported during the previous 2 weeks.
Mean disc height was reduced among obese participants, with statistically significant reductions in the L1-L2 and L3-L4 regions, according to the researchers. No significant relationship between reduced disc height and patients’ weight was found at the lumbosacral junction.
Mean and total lumbar disc heights had negative associations with recent pain after the researchers adjusted for age, sex and height; however, upon adjusting for weight, these associations were no longer considered significant, according to the researchers.
Evidence of an interrelationship between lumbar disc height, obesity and recent back pain are suggestive of the theory “that structural changes have a role in back pain and may in part explain the association between obesity and back pain,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: The authors received Monash University Strategic Grant Scheme funds in support of the study.