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Traffic Crash Risks in Morbidly Obese Drivers Before and After Weight Loss Surgery

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Abstract

Morbidly obese drivers have a higher risk of road crashes because of associated conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea. We assessed whether weight loss surgery has an impact on subsequent road crash risks in morbidly obese drivers. Our longitudinal self-matched cohort analyses suggest that road crash risks are three times higher in morbidly obese drivers than the population norm. Yet, weight loss surgery yields no significant reductions in crash risks. We found similar results in patients not previously diagnosed with sleep disorders, suggesting the need to clarify the relationship of obesity with road crash risk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sunnybrook Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Avenue, G106, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Junaid A. Bhatti, Avery B. Nathens & Donald A. Redelmeier

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Junaid A. Bhatti, Avery B. Nathens & Donald A. Redelmeier

  3. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Junaid A. Bhatti, Avery B. Nathens & Donald A. Redelmeier

  4. Department of Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Avery B. Nathens

Authors
  1. Junaid A. Bhatti
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  2. Avery B. Nathens
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  3. Donald A. Redelmeier
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junaid A. Bhatti.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Statement of Informed Consent

The databases used in this study were linked using unique encoded identifiers and analyzed at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). This study was approved by the institutional review board at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada.

Disclaimer

This study was supported by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). The opinions, results, and conclusions reported in this paper are those of the authors and are independent from the funding sources. No endorsement by ICES or the Ontario MOHLTC is intended or should be inferred. Further, parts of this material are based on data and information compiled and provided by CIHI. However, the analyses, conclusions, opinions, and statements expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of CIHI.

Statement of Human and Animal Rights

This study did not involve primary data collection. All necessary approvals were obtained prior to the conduct of the study.

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Bhatti, J.A., Nathens, A.B. & Redelmeier, D.A. Traffic Crash Risks in Morbidly Obese Drivers Before and After Weight Loss Surgery. OBES SURG 26, 1985–1988 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2234-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2234-9

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