Prevalence of obesity and obesity as a risk factor in patients with severe median nerve lesion at the wrist.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship among obesity, incidence of idiopathic median nerve lesion at the wrist (MNLW), idiopathic severe MNLW and diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2)-associated severe MNLW. METHODS: Clinical and electrodiagnostic data were prospectively collected from 676 patients (≥20 years, 76% females) with carpal tunnel syndrome who were referred to our electrodiagnostic laboratories. In total, 229 patients had 314 cases of severe idiopathic MNLW, 447 had 777 cases of idiopathic non-severe MNLW, and 43 DMT2 patients had 62 cases of severe MNLW. We computed the standardized prevalence ratio (SPR) for obesity and compared the prevalence of obesity and body mass index (BMI) in patients with idiopathic MNLW and the 2009 OBesity EPIdemilogic (OBEPI) sample representing the prevalence of obesity in 24,455 French adults. We compared the prevalence of obesity in DMT2 patients and the Échantillon national témoin représentatif des personnes diabétiques (ENTRED) sample representing the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, in 3894 French patients with DMT2. RESULTS: The SPR for obesity was 1.60 (95% confidence interval 1.23-2.07) for idiopathic severe MNLW as compared with the OBEPI sample, and 1.72 (1.17-2.46) for DMT2-associated severe MNLW as compared with the ENTRED sample. The risk of severe MNLW increased with BMI the adjusted odds ratio was 1.09 (1.05-1.13) for each 1-point increase in BMI. This risk was not significant for patients 60 years and older. DISCUSSION: The prevalence of obesity is increased for patients with severe MNLW and DMT2-associated severe MNLW as compared with their respective general populations.