Injury risk higher in overweight adults

Newswise — Overweight adults are significantly more likely to sustain injuries that require medical treatment than their normal-weight peers, finds a new study of more than 40,000 people. For the extremely obese, the risk is nearly twice as high.

“Our results suggest that injury rates could increase in the future as obesity rates continue to increase,” said study co-author Justin Trogdon, Ph.D., a research economist at RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C.,

The study appears in the May/June issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Trogdon and colleagues analyzed data from a large survey of medical expenditures administered by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The 42,304 adults who participated noted all medical conditions, injuries and health care expenditures that occurred between 1999 and 2002. They also reported height and weight, which researchers used to calculate body mass index.

Researchers found that as BMI increased, so did a person’s risk of sustaining an injury requiring medical treatment.

Overweight adults (BMI between 26 and 29) had a 15 percent increased risk of injury compared to normal-weight adults. Morbidly obese adults (BMI of 40 and over) had the highest risk of injury — a 48 percent greater risk than normal-weight adults.

However, although having a higher BMI increased injury risk, it did not signal an increase in the cost of medical treatment per incident.

“We thought we might find that, once injured, overweight and obese patients would be more expensive to treat. This would be the case if the injuries were more severe or if the excess weight complicated treatment. However, we found that treatment costs per injury were not significantly higher for overweight and obese patients,” Trogdon said.

The authors suggested that the future total cost of injuries might still be substantial due to the burgeoning overweight and obese population in the United States.

“I’m just hoping that we’re looking at this data from the right direction — a way to help individuals not have injuries, as opposed to finding another way to tell them they’re heavy,” said Sylvia Moore, Ph.D., director of the Division of Medical Education and Public Health at the University of Wyoming.

“This is just another area where we need to be aware where excess weight might cause some risk, and educate people about that risk and try to minimize it,” Moore said.

Finkelstein EA, et al. The relationship between obesity and injuries among U.S. adults. Am J Health Promot 21(5), 2007.