Duke Report Draws Connection Between Obesity and Propensity for Workers' Comp Claims

Sheila Chavis

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In a recent research study, two Duke professors examined the claims and records of nearly 12,000 Duke employees from 1997 to 2004. The researchers concluded that extremely obese employees filed two times as many workers' compensation claim as non-obese employees. The study also found that the extremely obese workers had seven times higher medical costs and stayed out of work 13 times longer after a work injury or disease, when compared to their non-obese counterparts.

One of the researchers, Trul Ostbye, a professor of Community and Family Medicine summarized the impact of the report by concluding that maintaining a healthy weight should be a high priority for employers as well as their employees.