Is BMI or Body Weight Associated with Current and Future Foot Pain?

High amounts of body fat, but not body mass index (BMI) was associated with current and future foot pain, according to a recent study.

In their study, researchers examined whether mass index (FMI) or fat-free mass index (FFMI) and serum adipokines, Interleukin-6 (IL-6 ), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) were associated with prevalent (Stage 2) foot pain or predictive of future (Stage 3) foot pain in 1462 participants.
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The participants—ages ≥50 years—participated in the North West Adelaide Health Study. During Stage 2 (2004-2006) and Stage 3 (2008-2010) participants were asked if they had foot pain in the forms of aching or stiffness.

During Stage 2, researchers measured participants' serum adipokines and anthropometry and used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure body composition.

Foot pain was present in 20.2% of participants in Stage 2 and 36.4% of participants in Stage 3. The likelihood of pain development in Stage 2 increased 8% for each unit FMI, and the odds of pain development in Stage 3 increased 6% for each FMI unit at Stage 2.

TNF-α, IL-6 and FFMI were not associated with pain development in any way.

The complete study is published in the September issue of Arthritis Care and Research.

—Michelle Canales

Reference:

Walsh TP, Gill TK, Evans AM, et al. The association of fat mass and adipokines with foot pain in a community cohort. Arthritis Care Res. 2015 September [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1002/acr.22719.