Korean J Dermatol.  2024 Jul;62(6):319-326.

Impact of Body Mass Index on Acute Pain and Postherpetic Neuralgia of Patients with Herpes Zoster

• Jeong S
• Kim S
• Suh MK

Abstract

Background
Body mass index (BMI) is associated with inflammation, immune response, and chronic pain. However, the impact of BMI on pain in patients with herpes zoster remains unclear.
Objective
This study aimed to investigate whether BMI was associated with acute pain and postherpetic neuralgia in patients with herpes zoster.
Methods
We analyzed medical records of 620 patients with herpes zoster, aged ≥50 years, from 2017 to 2021. BMI was classified into three categories: underweight, BMI＜18.5 kg/m² ; normal, 18.5 kg/m² ≤BMI＜25.0 kg/m² ; and obesity, BMI≥25.0 kg/m² . Acute pain in patients with herpes zoster was assessed using a numeric rating scale (NRS) with scores ranging from 0∼10. To evaluate acute and chronic pain in patients with herpes zoster, we used a multiple linear regression model for the acute pain score and a multivariate logistic regression model for the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia.
Results
The acute pain NRS score was higher in the underweight group than in the normal group (3.9 vs. 3.0, p=0.01). No significant differences were observed between the obese and normal-weight groups. In multivariate analysis, odds ratio for postherpetic neuralgia in the obesity group was 1.80 (95% confidence interval, 1.22∼2.66; p＜0.01) compared to the normal weight group. However, the odds ratio for postherpetic neuralgia in the underweight group was not significantly different from that in the normal-weight group.
Conclusion
In patients with herpes zoster, being underweight was associated with a higher NRS score of acute pain than normal weight, and obesity was associated with a higher incidence of postherpetic neuralgia than normal weight.

Keyword

Acute pain; Body mass index; Herpes zoster; Postherpetic neuralgia