BMI, Abdominal Obesity and Physical Activity in Adult Candidates for Lumbar Disk Degeneration Surgery

Background and Aim: Lumbar DisK Degeneration (LDD) is one of the most important causes of pain in the lower back, lack of physical activity, overweight, and obesity have been regarded as the most significant factors in its occurrence. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluation of body mass index, abdominal obesity and physical activity level in patients undergoing lumbar disk degeneration surgery. Methods and Materials/Patients: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 130 adult patients (20 to 77 years old) candidates for surgery admitted to the Poursina Hospital in Rasht City, Iran in 2016 due to degenerative lumbar vertebrae diseases. After obtaining the patients' consent, their abdominal circumference, weight, and height were measured by the researcher. The Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA) questionnaire was used to assess the level of physical activity of the subjects and questions about professional sports were asked by the researchers. SPSS 16 was used to analyze the study findings. The Chi-square test and Fisher exact test were applied to examine the relationship between qualitative data. Results: The mean±SD BMI values in males and females were 26.63±4.47 and 28.96±4.45 kg/ m2, respectively. Also, the mean±SD values of abdominal circumference in men and women were 99.8±13.35 cm and 107.44±17.58 cm, respectively. The majority of the people (88.5%), including 71.7% of men and 97.6% of women had suboptimal physical activity, and a small percentage of samples (10.8%) reported previous professional exercises Conclusion: The present study results indicate the lack of activity level, high BMI and abdominal obesity in our patients. Further study is required to investigate the significant relationship between BMI and degenerative diseases.