en Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Research <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background & Aim:</strong> Low back pain is the most debilitating condition, and can lead to decreased physical function, compromised quality&nbsp;of life, and psychological distress. Several studies have been conducted to recognize the risk factors of low back pain, but despite of&nbsp;strong relationship between obesity and low back pain, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the&nbsp;association between obesity/overweight and disc height and disc bulging at each level and total levels in lumbar vertebra, considering&nbsp;occupational risk factors.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods & Materials/Patients:</strong> This is a cross-sectional study on 102 patients with low back pain referring to MRI department in&nbsp;Poursina hospital in Rasht. Body mass index (kg/m2) categories modified for Asian populations based on World Health Organization&nbsp;guidelines were used. Disc height and disc herniation were evaluated in sagittal T1, sagittal T2 and axial T2 MRI images. We used four&nbsp;risk factors agreed by US-NIOSH (USA-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), to evaluate the occupational risk factors.&nbsp;Regression test was used for statistical analysis.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results</strong>: Of the 102 patients, 36.3% were men and 63.7% were women. The age range was 15 to 75 years. Results showed that 26.5% of&nbsp;patients had normal body mass index, 39.2% were overweight and 34.3% were obese. Low, moderate, and high level of occupational risk&nbsp;factors were distributed as 36.3%, 17.6%, and 46.1%, respectively. Analysis with regression test showed that the relationship between&nbsp;obesity and overweight and disc height was negative at total levels and all levels, unless L5-S1. At L5-S1 level, there was no association.&nbsp;There was a positive relationship between obesity and total score of disc herniation at L1-S1. There was no association between overweight&nbsp;and total score at this level. At L1-L2, L2-L3 and L5-S1, there were no association between obesity and overweight and disc herniation, and&nbsp;at L3-L4 and L4-L5, there were negative relationships between obesity and disc herniation.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: Our study noted the positive and significant association between obesity/overweight and disc degenerative changes in lumbar&nbsp;spine. Since there is abundant evidence in the literature demonstrating the strong association of disc degeneration on MRI with low back&nbsp;pain, prevention and treatment of being overweight or obese must be a public health priority.&nbsp;</p> Body Mass Index, Intervertebral Disc, Spine 11 14 http://irjns.org/browse.php?a_code=A-10-141-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sima Falah Arzpeyma سیما فلاح ارض پیما arzpeima@gmail.com 10031947532846003141 10031947532846003141 No Assistant Professor, Radiology Department, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Guilan, Iran Gholamreza Mahfoozi غلامرضا محفوظی mahfoozi@gmail.com 10031947532846003142 10031947532846003142 No Assistant Professor, Statistician, Department of Management, University of Guilan, Rasht, Guilan, Iran Parisa Sedighi Moghadam Pour پریسا صدیقی مقدم پور narsis_moonlight2@yahoo.com 10031947532846003143 10031947532846003143 Yes Radiologist, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Guilan, Iran