Effect of body mass index on ulnar nerve conduction velocity among medical students

Abstract

Background: Obesity and overweight incidence is increasing among the medical students. The main reason for obesity among medical students is sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy food intake and stress. Increase in subcutaneous fat impairs the conduction in nerve fibers. Body mass index (BMI) is an easy tool to assess the obesity as it is noninvasive and non-expensive. Nerve conduction studies are the tools for assessing the performance of the nervous system. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of obesity on the ulnar nerve conduction velocity among medical students. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 medical students were recruited for the study and the study was done in the Department of Physiology, ESIC Medical College, Hyderabad. Two groups were made Group A (n = 25 with BMI 18.5–24.9) and Group B (n = 25 with BMI >25). AD instrument was used for data acquisition for right ulnar nerve conduction velocity in both the groups. Results from both the groups were compared. Results: Nerve conduction velocity among the Group B students (50.95 ± 15.91) was decreased compared to Group A students (57.56 ± 14.79) but the decrease in nerve conduction velocity was not significant (P = 0.28). Conclusions: Nerve conduction velocity gets impaired with obesity among medical students, but further studies need to be done with more sample size.