Korean J Fam Pract 2019; 9(6): 492-498  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2019.9.6.492
Body Mass Index and Seatbelt Use in Korea: Analyzing the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2015)
Hyejeong Yeo, Gayoon Park, Dongyeon Kang, Nayeon Moon*
Department of Family Medicine, VHS Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Nayeon Moon
Tel: +82-2-2225-1292, Fax: +82-504-042-0518
E-mail: utodise0210@naver.com
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1578-4947
Received: August 1, 2018; Revised: September 28, 2019; Accepted: October 21, 2019; Published online: December 20, 2019.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of obesity in Korea is continuously increasing, and there are several international studies that suggest obese populations are not likely to wear seatbelts when driving a car. Even though the rate of seatbelt use in Korean adults is 79.8%, which is much lower than 94% for OECD countries, no studies have been conducted related to this particular issue in Korea. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and seatbelt use in Korea where BMI standards, laws, cultures, and social conventions totally differ from those of western countries.
Methods: This study was conducted on 8,556 drivers, aged 19 or older, using raw data from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2015). A stratified and cross-sectional analysis was used to figure out seatbelt use rates according to BMI, and a multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) of seatbelt use by BMI groups.
Results: Increase in BMI resulted in a decrease in seatbelt use. The extremely obese group particularly had much lower rates of seatbelt use compared to other groups. After adjusting other variables, only the extremely obese group had much lower rates of seatbelt use (OR 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.87).
Conclusion: Seatbelt use rates according to BMI had no significant differences between the non-obese group, the overweight group, and the obese group. However, the extremely obese group had a tendency to not wear seatbelts when driving a car.
Keywords: Seatbelt Use; Obesity; Body Mass Index; Accidents; Korea
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