Association between obesity and unintentional injury in older adults.

OBJECTIVE

To test the association between obesity and specific types and anatomical sites of unintentional injuries in older adults.

METHODS

Participants consisted of 52,857 men and women aged ≥65 years from the 2003 and 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Weight, height, and details on injuries occurring in the past year were obtained by survey.

RESULTS

Obese individuals had a higher risk for sprains/strains occurring at any anatomical site (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: men 1.48, 1.48-1.62; women 1.14, 1.10-1.27). Conversely, obese individuals were less likely to have a fracture at any anatomical location (men 0.56, 0.50-0.63; women 0.66, 0.51-0.92) or at the hip (men 0.31, 0.12-0.53; women 0.42, 0.29-0.92). Finally, obese older adults did not experience more superficial injuries than normal-weight individuals.

CONCLUSION

Among this large sample of older adults, obesity provided some protection against fractures but was associated with higher odds for sprains/strains.