Response to the letter to the editor: Inconsistencies in obesity criteria: implications for systematic reviews on endoscopic spine surgery

To the Editor, We sincerely thank the correspondents for their insightful comments and for their interest in our systematic review and meta-analysis entitled "Endoscopic spine surgery for obesity-related surgical challenges: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence [1]." We appreciate the opportunity to clarify the methodological concern raised regarding inconsistencies in the definition of obesity, particularly in Asian populations.In our systematic review and meta-analysis, obesity was defined a priori as body mass index (BMI) 30 kg/m 2 according to the World Health Organization (WHO) global classification, which remains the most widely used standard in international research and evidence synthesis [1].However, we acknowledge that several included studies, particularly from Asian cohorts, adopted lower BMI cutoffs such as >25 kg/m 2

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Publication Details

Journal
Asian Spine Journal
Published
2026-02-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31616/asj.2025.0559.r2
Primary Topic
Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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Response to the letter to the editor: Inconsistencies in obesity criteria: implications for systematic reviews on endoscopic spine surgery

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Response to the letter to the editor: Inconsistencies in obesity criteria: implications for systematic reviews on endoscopic spine surgery

Wongthawat Liawrungrueang, Pang Hung Wu, Watcharaporn Cholamjiak, Yudha Mathan Sakti, Zenya Ito, Peem Sarasombath, Dong-Gune Chang, Lo Cho Yau, Sung Tan Cho, Yi-Jhu Lu, Kang Taek Lim
article en

Abstract

To the Editor, We sincerely thank the correspondents for their insightful comments and for their interest in our systematic review and meta-analysis entitled "Endoscopic spine surgery for obesity-related surgical challenges: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence [1]." We appreciate the opportunity to clarify the methodological concern raised regarding inconsistencies in the definition of obesity, particularly in Asian populations.In our systematic review and meta-analysis, obesity was defined a priori as body mass index (BMI) 30 kg/m 2 according to the World Health Organization (WHO) global classification, which remains the most widely used standard in international research and evidence synthesis [1].However, we acknowledge that several included studies, particularly from Asian cohorts, adopted lower BMI cutoffs such as >25 kg/m 2

Asian Spine JournalVol. 20(1)
Universitas Gadjah Mada (ID), Mount Elizabeth Hospital (SG), North District Hospital (HK), Taipei Medical University Hospital (TW), Phramongkutklao Hospital (TH), Nagoya University Hospital (JP), University of Phayao (TH), Seonam University (KR), Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (TW), Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital (KR), Nagoya Central Hospital (JP), Incheon Medical Center (KR), Taipei Medical University (TW), University of Hong Kong (HK)
University of Phayao, Thailand Science Research and Innovation
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 62%
Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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