Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39622629›Full record

SynthesisObesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity2025

Association between pain intensity and body composition in adults with chronic non-specific low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Melanie Liechti, Massimo Menegon, Alexander Philipp Schurz, Jan Taeymans, Heiner Baur, Ron Clijsen, Anneleen Malfliet, Nathanael Lutz

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Association between pain intensity and body composition in adults with chronic non-specific low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Melanie LiechtiSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-4447-2379
Massimo MenegonSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.
Alexander Philipp SchurzSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-2818-0782
Jan TaeymansSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.
Heiner BaurSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-4780-225X
Ron ClijsenSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.
Anneleen MalflietPain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Department of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Nathanael LutzSchool of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThis systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the association between pain intensity and different body composition measures in adults suffering from chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP).

methodsA systematic literature search across five databases-PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library-was conducted. It identified observational studies published until January 2024. A meta-analysis was conducted incorporating a random-effects approach with Fisher's Z transformation. A critical appraisal of the included studies' quality was conducted.

resultsTwenty-two studies were included. Of those, 20 were meta-analyzed, revealing positive, very weak correlations between pain intensity and body mass index (r = 0.11; 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.18), waist-hip ratio (r = 0.10; 95% CI: -0.14 to 0.34) and waist circumference (r = 0.09; 95% CI: -0.28 to 0.44). Not pooled study findings (e.g., hip circumference and body fat percentage) were narratively summarized, revealing 13 positive and four negative associations between pain intensity and body composition measures. Studies showed a substantial risk of bias due to unadjusted confounding factors and limited transferability of findings.

conclusionThis systematic review and meta-analysis provided very low-quality evidence for a positive, very weak association between pain intensity and body composition measures in adults with overweight and obesity suffering from CNLBP. The included studies had a substantial risk of bias due to their observational and cross-sectional study designs, which prevents recommendations for clinical practice. Randomized controlled trials are needed to investigate the causal effect of interventions on body composition measures and pain intensity.

Indexed as

Body CompositionChronic PainLow Back PainAdultBody Mass IndexHumansPain MeasurementWaist Circumferenceback painbody compositionoverweightpain intensity

Identifiers

PMID39622629
PMCPMC11884966

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.