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

Abstract

Background 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. Methods 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; n = 84) and greater than or equal to 50 years old (GT50; n = 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 t-tests, Pearson Chi-squared tests, and linear regressions. Results The LT50 cohort reported greater mean BMI (37.61 ± 5.62 vs 35.16 ± 4.62; p = 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), p < 0.001] and BMI ≥40 [15.5% (40.10–51.30) vs 6.4% (40.19–55.30), p = 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 ( β = -0.041, p = 0.003, OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99). Discussion 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. Level of Evidence III.