Prevalence of arthralgia in obese individuals in the pre and postoperative of bariatric surgery <b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

Aims: To analyze the prevalence of joint pain, to compare the body mass index (BMI), to verify the association between BMI and six-minute walk test, and the association between joint pain in obese patients in pre and post surgery six months after bariatric surgery. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed. The subjects were 43 obese individuals that performed the pre and six-month post surgery evaluation. Student’s t test was used for statistical analyses. The relation between BMI and the distance walked was analyzed by linear regression. The data were expressed as average standard deviations, and described through graphics and table of frequency with proportions. Results: Joint pain was noticed in 83.7% in the presurgery group and in 37.2% in the post-surgery group after six months. The difference in BMI between pre and post surgery was significant (p<0.001). A significant difference was noticed when walked distance and BMI were compared both in pre and post surgery. In the post-surgery there was a rise in the distance walked during six minute walk test, which was associated to the reduction of BMI, but an association between walked distance and presence of joint pain was not found. Conclusions: Obese patients subjected to bariatric surgery had a high prevalence of joint pain in the presurgery period that decreased in the post-surgery, like body mass index. The lack of association between the walked distance during six minute walk test and presence of joint pain suggests that this was not the main limiting factor for walking in these subjects.