Computer simulations of obesity effects on occupant injury in frontal impacts

Turkovich, Michael James; Hu, Jingwen; Roosmalen, Linda van; Brienza, David

doi:10.1080/13588265.2013.809646

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The increased mass associated with higher BMI results in higher knee impact forces, which are associated with an increased risk of knee‐thigh‐hip fracture and below‐knee injury (29). The increased abdominal fat associated with higher BMI also results in increased knee excursion (30, 31) because the lap belt must deflect a greater amount of soft tissue before it can begin to load the bony pelvis. This increased excursion and delayed belt engagement also increases knee impact forces and the risk of lower extremity injury.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of BMI on the risk and frequency of AIS 3+ injuries in motor‐vehicle crashes

Rupp

Flannagan

Leslie

et al. 2013

Obesity

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Objective: Determine the effects of BMI on the risk of serious-to-fatal injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale ! 3 or AIS 3+) to different body regions for adults in frontal, nearside, farside, and rollover crashes. Design and Methods: Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to a probability sample of adult occupants involved in crashes generated by combining the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS-CDS) with a pseudoweighted version of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network database. Logistic regression models were applied to weighted data to estimate the change in the number of occupants with AIS 3+ injuries if no occupants were obese. Results: Increasing BMI increased risk of lower-extremity injury in frontal crashes, decreased risk of lower-extremity injury in nearside impacts, increased risk of upper-extremity injury in frontal and nearside crashes, and increased risk of spine injury in frontal crashes. Several of these findings were affected by interactions with gender and vehicle type. If no occupants in frontal crashes were obese, 7% fewer occupants would sustain AIS 3+ upper-extremity injuries, 8% fewer occupants would sustain AIS 3+ lower-extremity injuries, and 28% fewer occupants would sustain AIS 3+ spine injuries. Conclusions: Results of this study have implications on the design and evaluation of vehicle safety systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of BMI on the risk and frequency of AIS 3+ injuries in motor‐vehicle crashes

Rupp

Flannagan

Leslie

et al. 2013

Obesity

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Contributing to this pattern may be the finding that belt fit is worse for obese occupants than for those of normal weight (Reed et al 2012). Both sled testing (Kent et al 2010) and simulation studies (Turkovich et al 2013) have demonstrated decreased pelvis engagement for obese occupants, and volunteer studies have demonstrated that obese occupants experience belt routing higher and more forward relative to the bony pelvis than for normal-weight occupants (Reed et al 2012). Sub-optimal belt fit can be associated with submarining kinematics, in which the lap belt bears on the abdomen rather than the pelvis during a frontal crash (Kent et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Driver Characteristics on Seat Belt Fit

Reed

Ebert

Hallman

2013

SAE Technical Paper Series

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A laboratory study of posture and belt fit was conducted with 46 men and 51 women, 61% of whom were age 60 years or older and 32% age 70 years or older. In addition, 28% of the 97 participants were obese, defined as body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m 2. A mockup of a passenger vehicle driver's station was created and five belt anchorage configurations were produced by moving the buckle, outboard-upper (D-ring), and outboard-lower anchorages. An investigator recorded the three-dimensional locations of landmarks on the belt and the participant's body using a coordinate measurement machine. The location of the belt with respect to the underlying skeletal structures was analyzed, along with the length of belt webbing. Using linear regression models, an increase in age from 20 to 80 years resulted in the lap belt positioned 18 mm further forward relative to the pelvis, 26 mm greater lap belt webbing length, and 19 mm greater shoulder belt length. An increase in stature of 350 mm (approximately the range from 5 th-percentile female to 95 th-percentile male in the U.S. population) was associated with the lap belt 14 mm further forward relative to the pelvis, the shoulder belt 37 mm more outboard relative to the body centerline, and 38 mm less shoulder belt webbing length. Among the driver factors considered, body mass index had the greatest effects. An increase of BMI in 20 kg/m 2 , which spans approximately the central 90% of U.S. adults, was associated with the lap belt being placed 102 mm further forward and 94 mm higher, relative to the pelvis, and increases in lap and shoulder belt webbing length of 276 and 258 mm, respectively. Gender did not have important effects on the analyzed belt fit measures after taking into account stature and body mass index. These results offer important considerations for future crash safety assessments and suggest that further research is needed to consider belt fit for older and obese occupants.

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“…Forman et al compared the kinematics of five postmortem human subjects (PMHS) in frontal crash tests and found that high‐BMI PMHS experienced greater body excursions due to the higher kinetic energy than low‐BMI PMHS. Turkovich et al also reported that the increased body mass was the most significant factor affecting the injury risks for occupants with obesity. Cormier found that the adipose tissues of an occupant with obesity may move the belt away from the bony structures, which may increase the injury risks for occupants with obesity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…For example, only a few human models representing occupants with obesity are available in the literature. Kim et al and Turkovich et al developed occupant models with obesity using multibody simulation by adding a facet mesh representing more realistic body shapes of occupants with different BMI levels. However, it is difficult for multibody models to accurately simulate the complex interactions between the seat belt and the adipose tissues in the abdominal area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%