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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on February 8, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwk110
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American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2007 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Association between Body Mass Index and Recovery from Whiplash Injuries: A Cohort Study

Xiaoqing Yang1, Pierre Côté1,2,3, J. David Cassidy2,3 and Linda Carroll4

1 Institute for Work and Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 Department of Public Health Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 University Health Network Rehabilitation Solutions, Toronto Western Hospital, and Division of Outcomes and Population Health, Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
4 Department of Public Health Sciences and Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Correspondence to Dr. Xiaoqing Yang, Institute for Work and Health, 481 University Avenue, Suite 700, Toronto, ON M5G 2E9, Canada (e-mail: xyang{at}iwh.on.ca).

Received for publication July 17, 2006. Accepted for publication October 17, 2006.

It is hypothesized that excess weight is a risk factor for delayed recovery from neck pain, such as from whiplash injuries. However, the association between obesity and recovery from whiplash injury has not been studied. The authors examined the association between body mass index and time to recovery from whiplash injuries in a population-based cohort study of traffic injuries in Saskatchewan, Canada. The cohort included 4,395 individuals who made an insurance claim to Saskatchewan Government Insurance and were treated for whiplash injury between July 1, 1994, and December 31, 1995. Of those, 87.7% had recovered by November 1, 1997. No association was found between baseline body mass index and time to recovery. Compared with individuals with normal weight, those who were underweight (hazard rate ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval: 0.73, 1.06), overweight (hazard rate ratio = 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.94, 1.09), and obese (hazard rate ratio = 0.99, 95% confidence interval: 0.90, 1.08) had similar rates of recovery, even after adjustment for other factors. The results do not support the hypothesis that individuals who are overweight or obese have a worse prognosis for whiplash.

body mass index; body weight; neck pain; obesity; recovery of function; sprains and strains; whiplash injuries


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