TOPLINE:

Among adults without diabetes, higher BMI is independently associated with increased potential for ulnar nerve entrapment (UNE), with both overweight and obesity being prominent risk factors.

METHODOLOGY:

• Although diabetes is an established risk factor for UNE, the role of metabolic risk factors such as high BMI in individuals without diabetes is less clear.
• Researchers conducted a large cohort study of diabetes-free adults to examine the association between high BMI and the risk for incident UNE.
• Participants were stratified by BMI into normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight (BMI 25-30), and obesity (BMI ≥ 30) groups.
• Individuals were excluded with prevalent diabetes at baseline, incident diabetes during follow-up, underweight (BMI < 18.5), and prior UNE diagnosis.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among a population of 23,254 individuals, 11,946 had normal weight (mean age, 56 years; mean BMI, 22.6), 8947 had overweight (mean age, 59.6 years; mean BMI, 27.0), and 2361 had obesity (mean age, 59 years; mean BMI, 32.7).
• During a median follow-up of 25 years, 192 (0.8%) individuals developed UNE.
• Each one-unit increase in BMI was independently associated with increased UNE risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.07).
• Compared with normal weight, overweight was associated with a 1.55-fold increased risk and obesity with a 2.23-fold increased risk for UNE.

IN PRACTICE:

“High BMI is associated with the development of the entrapment neuropathy UNE, independent of age, sex, hypertension, smoking, manual work, and alcohol consumption in individuals without diabetes, indicating that obesity and high BMI are risk factors for the development of nerve entrapment disorders irrespective of [diabetes mellitus],” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Mattias Rydberg, Lund University, Skane University Hospital, Malmo, Sweden. It was published online in the International Journal of Obesity.

LIMITATIONS:

UNE diagnoses were captured from hospital settings only, excluding primary care and occupational therapy records. Data on impaired glucose tolerance were unavailable. The predominantly Scandinavian cohort may have limited generalizability.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received funding from Skane University Hospital, Lund University, Stig and Ragna Gorthon Foundation, and other sources. The authors declared no competing interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.