Obesity and the correlation with full-thickness rotator cuff tears in younger patients.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between obesity and full-thickness rotator cuff (FT-RTC) tears in patients under 50 years of age. A retrospective review of 571 patients aged 18-70 years who underwent FT-RTC repair was conducted. Patients were stratified into less than 50 years old (LT50; <i>n</i> = 84) and greater than or equal to 50 years old (GT50; <i>n</i> = 487) cohorts. Dependent variables included body mass index (BMI ≥ 30, ≥35, and ≥40), comorbidities, sex, race, and social history. Inter-cohort differences were analyzed with Student's <i>t</i>-tests, Pearson Chi-squared tests, and linear regressions. The LT50 cohort reported greater mean BMI (37.61 ± 5.62 vs 35.16 ± 4.62; <i>p</i> = 0.002). There was no difference in %BMI ≥30 between cohorts. The LT50 showed a significantly higher %BMI than the GT50 cohort when stratifying by BMI ≥ 35 [34.5% (35.10-51.30) vs 17.5% (35.00-55.30), <i>p</i> < 0.001] and BMI ≥40 [15.5% (40.10-51.30) vs 6.4% (40.19-55.30), <i>p</i> = 0.004], a 2.5- and 2.7-times greater odds, respectively. Linear regressions of the GT50 cohort demonstrated increasing age was associated with decreased odds of obesity (<i>β</i> = -0.041, <i>p</i> = 0.003, OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). Although the incidence of FT-RTCs is lower in patients under 50 years of age, the results of this study are the first to suggest that obesity is positively correlated with premature FT-RTCs. III.