Grace MacLellan

• Name: Grace MacLellan
• Year of MSc: 2017
• Supervisor(s): Brona Fullen, Catherine Blake
• Title of MSc: Musculoskeletal pain and health literacy profiles of obese patients attending the national weight management service of Ireland

MSc Summary

Obesity is a prevalent chronic disease and contributes to the development of numerous comorbidities, including musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. To tackle obesity, conservative multidisciplinary weight management services (WMS) have been put in place. However, to effectively manage obesity, one must have adequate health literacy (HL) and possess three self-management characteristics: knowledge, self-efficacy, and beliefs. Two retrospective studies were undertaken using the patient database in the WMS at St. Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown. The first study established the MSK pain profile of obese patients attending the multidisciplinary WMS and the second investigated the impact of this service on MSK pain and other functional outcome measures. A third cross-sectional study established a new patient's  level of HL.

The MSK pain profile demonstrated a high prevalence of severe MSK pain across the two studies: low back pain (LBP), ranging from 62-68.7%; and knee pain, ranging from 58-58.8%. Significant associations were found between MSK pain, self-report, and functional measures (p<0.05). At the end of the WMS, there were significant improvements in reports of LBP and pain scores, especially amongst those that lost more weight. The majority of patients (72.2%) lost weight when reassessed at their follow-up assessment approximately six months later (p<0.05), but less than two-thirds of patients attended their repeat assessments. Regarding HL levels, 42% had inadequate HL, and significant differences were found between adequate and inadequate HL groups for employment, education, income, and health service utilization (p<0.05).

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