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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2004.058156v1 96/4/734    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (10) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhu, S. Articles by Hargarten, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhu, S. Articles by Hargarten, S. Related Collections Gender Epidemiology Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Injury/Emergency Care/Violence Mortality

Shankuan Zhu, MD, PhD, Peter M. Layde, MD, MSc, Clare E. Guse, MS, Purushottam W. Laud, PhD, Frank Pintar, PhD, Raminder Nirula, MD, MPH and Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH

Shankuan Zhu, Peter M. Layde, and Clare E. Guse are with the Injury Research Center and the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis. Purushottam W. Laud is with the Division of Biostatistics, Health Policy Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin. Frank Pintar is with the Injury Research Center and the Neurosurgery Neuroscience Lab, Medical College of Wisconsin. Raminder Nirula is with the Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin. Stephen Hargarten is with the Injury Research Center and the Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Shankuan Zhu, MD, PhD, Injury Research Center and Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226 (e-mail: szhu{at}mcw.edu).

Objectives. We examined the role of body mass index (BMI) and other factors in driver deaths within 30 days after motor vehicle crashes.

Methods. We collected data for 22 107 drivers aged 16 years and older who were involved in motor vehicle crashes from the Crashworthiness Data System of the National Automotive Sampling System (1997–2001). We used logistic regression and adjusted for confounding factors to analyze associations between BMI and driver fatality and the associations between BMI and gender, age, seatbelt use, type of collision, airbag deployment, and change in velocity during a crash.

Results. The fatality rate was 0.87% (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.50, 1.24) among men and 0.43% (95% CI=0.31, 0.56) among women involved as drivers in motor vehicle crashes. Risk for death increased significantly at both ends of the BMI continuum among men but not among women (P<.05). The association between BMI and male fatality increased significantly with a change in velocity and was modified by the type of collision, but it did not differ by age, seatbelt use, or airbag deployment.

Conclusions. The increased risk for death due to motor vehicle crashes among obese men may have important implications for traffic safety and motor vehicle design.

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