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Original Contribution| Volume 32, ISSUE 7, P756-760, July 01, 2014

Obesity and seatbelt use: a fatal relationship

Published:January 22, 2014DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2014.01.010
Obesity and seatbelt use: a fatal relationship
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      Abstract

      Background

      Seatbelts significantly reduce the risk of death in motor vehicle accidents, but a certain number of individuals from some subgroups tend not to wear their seatbelts.

      Objectives

      In this study, we hypothesized that obese drivers (in fatal crashes) were less likely to wear seatbelts than their normal-weight counterparts.

      Methods

      A retrospective study was conducted on the drivers in motor vehicle crashes entered into the Fatality Analysis Reporting System database between 2003 and 2009. A number of precrash variables were found to be significantly associated with seatbelt use. These were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model using stepwise selection. Drivers were grouped into weight categories based on the World Health Organization definitions of obesity by body mass index. Seatbelt use was then examined by body mass index, adjusted for precrash variables that were significantly associated with seatbelt use.

      Results

      The odds of seatbelt use for normal-weight individuals were found to be 67% higher than the odds of seatbelt use in the morbidly obese. The relationship of seatbelt use between the different weight groups and the morbidly obese is as follows (odds ratios [ORs] for each comparison are listed with 95% confidence limits [CL]): underweight vs morbidly obese (OR, 1.62; CL, 1.47-1.79), normal weight vs morbidly obese (OR, 1.67; CL, 1.54-1.81), overweight vs morbidly obese (OR, 1.60; CL, 1.48-1.74), slightly obese vs morbidly obese (OR, 1.40; CL, 1.29-1.52), and moderately obese vs morbidly obese (OR, 1.24; CL, 1.13-1.36).

      Conclusion

      Seatbelt use is significantly less likely in obese individuals compared with their normal-weight counterparts.
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      Article Info

      Publication History

      Published online: January 22, 2014
      Accepted: January 11, 2014
      Received in revised form: January 11, 2014
      Received: June 2, 2013

      Footnotes

      ☆Funding sources/disclosures: None.

      ☆☆Prior presentations: Annual SAEM meeting; May 10, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2014.01.010

      Copyright

      © 2014 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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