Youths with Extreme Obesity: A High-Risk Group for Pain and Mental Health Impairments

Introduction:Youths with extreme obesity (body mass in-dex [BMI]>= 40) are at increased risk for physical and mentalhealth impairments. Nevertheless, this patient group hasreceived little attention in research. This study aimed toanalyze the pain experience and mental health impairmentsof youths with extreme obesity compared to those with mildand moderate obesity (BMI = 30-39.9) while also consid-ering potential gender differences.Methods:Cross-sectionaldata of 431 obese youths (M = 16.6 years; SD = 2.3; range =13-25 years; 53.1% female) were analyzed. Of these, 159(36.8%) youths had extreme obesity. Self-reported socio-demographic data, variables related to back or leg pain,depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) wereassessed with standardized questionnaires. Data were an-alyzed with univariate tests and logistic regression models.Results:Youths with extreme obesity reported more pain inthe last 4 weeks (p= 0.018), increased pain-related im-pairments in daily life (p= 0.009), more pain-related days ofabsence (p= 0.030), higher depression scores (p= 0.030), and reduced HRQoL (p= 0.005) compared to youths withmild and moderate obesity. The association between ex-treme obesity and pain in the last 4 weeks remained as-sociated after including sociodemographic variables in theregression model. In the subgroup of youth with extremeobesity (n= 159), women (n= 83) reported more pain in thelast 4 weeks (p= 0.001), higher depression scores (p<0.001),and lower HRQoL (p<0.001) compared to men (n= 76). Theassociation between female gender and pain remainedsignificant in the regression models, even after controllingfor sociodemographic variables and depression.Conclusion:Thesefindings highlight the need for standardized assess-ments of pain and mental health, particularly in the treat-ment of female youths with extreme obesity. Upcomingstudies should analyze the reciprocal interactions of painand mental health, since both are important barriers tolifestyle changes and weight loss.(c) 2024 The Author(s).Published by S. Karger AG, Basel