title: Importance of musculoskeletal pain in work activities in obese individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The consequences of obesity include musculoskeletal pain and its influence on a person's social, personal, and professional life, which is a great challenge for the multidisciplinary team in the treatment of obesity. The objective of this work was to evaluate musculoskeletal pain in the work activities of obese individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  An uncontrolled cross-sectional study was conducted. During 8 months, all obese individuals seen in the preoperative period at a tertiary care referral center for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome were invited to participate in the study. Ninety-five persons filled out the Nordic questionnaire for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms (Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ)) after having signed an informed consent form and having met the inclusion criteria of the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 95 patients assessed, 71 were females, the mean age was 39.3 ± 10.1 years, and mean body mass index was 47.25 ± 8.72 kg/m(2). Sixty-three (66.31 %) individuals felt musculoskeletal pain in some region of the body in the last 12 months, and 42 (44.21 %) sometimes gave up working in the same period because of musculoskeletal pain. There was a statistical association between BMI and the three aspects evaluated by the NMQ.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Musculoskeletal pain was very related to obese individuals who participated in this study, and in the majority cases, execution of the work activities of these persons was impeded. This indicates a need for further studies that address this subject to better attend to and intervene in the health of this population.
authors.affiliation: Centro da Obesidade e Síndrome Metabólica do Hospital São Lucas da Pontifícia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 6690/302, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90610-000, Brazil, cris@caberlon.com.br.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Caberlon
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Padoin
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Mottin
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D012008:Recurrence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires