Disclosures: Jocelyn Cepeda, MD: Nothing to disclose

Objective: To evaluate whether body mass index (BMI) and age influence the function of the knee in sedentary nurses.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at a public tertiary hospital.

Participants: Thirty-five sedentary nurses (no physical activity at least three times during the week in the last 3 months), male and female, aged 37-56 years; previous arthroscopic knee surgeries and total knee replacement were exclusion criteria.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Knee functional level was measured with 24-item version of Western Ontario & McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC); BMI was also calculated with Du Bois method. We analyzed the correlation between scores using Pearson coefficient (r).

Results: Mean age was 46.60±9.37 years, mean WOMAC score was 29.51±20.42 and mean BMI 29.03±4.37 kg/m² in the total sample. A weak positive and statistically significant correlation was found between WOMAC score and BMI (r=0.37, P =.02). The relationship between WOMAC score and age was weak and not statistically significant (r=0.32, P =.06).

Conclusions: A sedentary lifestyle, age and body composition influenced the functionality of the knee. Our findings suggest that sedentary lifestyle has a greater impact on the decrease in functional knee capacity than the increase in BMI and age does. It is necessary to create preventive exercise programs focused on improving knee functionality in nurses and, in this way, reduce absenteeism that directly affects the economy of the hospital environment. Complementary studies with more specific inclusion criteria are needed.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/relationship-between-self-reported-function-of-the-knee-body-mass-index-and-age-in-sedentary-nurses/