Oral Presentation Australian & New Zealand Obesity Society 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting

Reduce weight gain and Ease the pain: The impact of comorbidity of pain and obesity on interventions (#65)

Louise Sharpe 1
  1. The University of Sydney, The University Of Sydney, NSW, Australia

There are high levels of co-morbidity between obesity and chronic pain. The evidence suggests that the co-morbidity of obesity and chronic pain complicate the treatment of either condition in isolation. That is, patients whose weight falls in the obese range do more poorly in pain management; and clients seeking treatment for obesity who are also in chronic pain lose less weight than those clients seeking weight loss who are not in pain. While there is relatively little evidence that explores this relationship, it seems clear that an increase in physical activity is a central component of both weight loss programs and chronic pain management. However, both obesity and chronic pain make physical activity more challenging. A recent study shows that when both weight loss and pain management are undertaken together, patients both lose more weight and have better outcomes in terms of disability than when either condition is treated in isolation. This talk will discuss ways in which to modify behavioural weight management programs in order to deal with chronic pain issues.