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Obesity and non-fatal motor vehicle crash injuries: sex difference effects

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 1216–1224 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Obesity and motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries are two parallel epidemics in the United States. An important unanswered question is whether there are sex differences in the associations between the presence of obesity and non-fatal MVC injuries.

Objectives:

To further understand the association between obesity and non-fatal MVC injuries, particularly the sex differences in these relations.

Methods:

We examined this question by analyzing data from the 2003 to 2007 National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS CDS). A total of 10 962 drivers who were aged 18 years or older and who survived frontal collision crashes were eligible for the study.

Results:

Male drivers experienced a lower rate of overall non-fatal MVC injuries than did female drivers (38.1 versus 52.2%), but experienced a higher rate of severe injuries (0.7 versus 0.2%). After adjusting for change in velocity (ΔV) during the crashes, obese male drivers showed a much higher risk (logistic coefficients of body mass index (BMI) for moderate, serious and severe injury are 0.0766, 0.1470 and 0.1792, respectively; all P<0.05) of non-fatal injuries than did non-obese male drivers and these risks increased with injury severity. Non-fatal injury risks were not found to be increased in obese female drivers. The association between obesity and risk of non-fatal injury was much stronger for male drivers than for female drivers.

Conclusion:

The higher risk of non-fatal MVC injuries in obese male drivers might result from their different body shape and fat distribution compared with obese female drivers. Our findings should be considered for obesity reduction, traffic safety evaluation and vehicle design for obese male drivers and provide testable hypotheses for future studies.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health (grant R01EB006552-01A1, Obesity-Related Variables and Motor Vehicle Injury). The opinions expressed herein represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIH or any other organization with which the authors are affiliated. Drs Shankuan Zhu and Xiaoguang Ma had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Injury Research Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    X Ma, F Pintar & S Zhu

  2. Department of Population Health, Division of Biostatistics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    P W Laud

  3. Neurosurgery Neuroscience Lab, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    F Pintar

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    J-E Kim & A Shih

  5. Obesity Research Center, St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital and Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA

    W Shen

  6. Center for Scientific Affairs, Merck & Co., Rahway, NJ, USA

    S B Heymsfield

  7. Department of Biostatistics, and Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    D B Allison

  8. Injury Control Research Center, and Obesity and Body Composition Research Center, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China

    S Zhu

Authors
  1. X Ma
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  2. P W Laud
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S Zhu.

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Competing interests

Dr Allison has received grants, honoraria, consulting fees and donations from multiple for-profit and not-for-profit entities with interests in obesity and receives royalties from an obesity-related book. The remaining authors have no conflict of interest in relation to the present study.

Author contributions

Drs Xiaoguang Ma and Shankuan Zhu had full access to all of the data, and they take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Study concept and design: Shankuan Zhu.

Acquisition of data: Xiaoguang Ma, Shankuan Zhu, and Purushottam Laud.

Analysis and interpretation of data: Xiaoguang Ma, Shankuan Zhu, Purushottam Laud, Frank Pintar, Jong-Eun Kim, Alan Shih, Wei Shen, Steven Heymsfield, David Allison.

Drafting of the manuscript: Xiaoguang Ma, Shankuan Zhu.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Shankuan Zhu, Xiaoguang Ma, Purushottam Laud, Frank Pintar, Jong-Eun Kim, Alan Shih, Wei Shen, Steven Heymsfield, David Allison.

Statistical analysis: Xiaoguang Ma, Shankuan Zhu, Purushottam Laud.

Obtained funding: Shankuan Zhu.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Shankuan Zhu, Purushottam Laud.

Study supervision: Shankuan Zhu.

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Ma, X., Laud, P., Pintar, F. et al. Obesity and non-fatal motor vehicle crash injuries: sex difference effects. Int J Obes 35, 1216–1224 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.270

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