Prescription Medication Usage and Crash Culpability in a Population of Injured Drivers

This paper, from a conference on crash injury control, reports on a study undertaken to describe the prevalence of prescription drug use among injured trauma patients and to determine the association between classes of drugs and crash culpability (used as a surrogate measure of crash risk). The authors linked patient records to police crash reports, in order to determine crash culpability. The patient records included chronic medication usage, for all drivers admitted to a trauma center following a traffic collision in 2008 (n = 1,558). Analyses explored the association between medication use and crash responsibility among non-drinking drivers, focusing on the use of central nervous system (CNS)-acting medications (single and multiple). The data showed that 61.5% of all drivers were using any medications and usage increased with age, as did numbers of prescriptions per driver. Additional analyses revealed that drivers who used CNS medications had an increased risk of culpability; those on more than one such medication had a crude (unadjusted) odds ratio of 2.16 for having caused the crash. Among drivers younger than 45 years old, CNS medications did not significantly increase the risk of crash culpability. However, among drivers aged 45 or greater, the odds ratios for one, two, or 2+ CNS medications vs. none increased dramatically from 1.89 to 4.23 to 7.99, respectively. The authors conclude by calling for special attention and concern given to older drivers using two or more CNS-acting agents. They note that despite the facts from this study and other research about the prevalence of prescription drug use, awareness of the risks of driving associated with the drugs is low and warnings about these medications are rarely provided by health care workers.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/19432461
• Corporate Authors:

  Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)

  P.O. Box 4176
  Barrington, IL  United States  60011-4176
• Authors:
  • Dischinger, Patricia
  • Li, Jingyi
  • Smith, Gordon S
  • Ho, Shiu
  • Auman, Kimberly
  • Shojai, Dawn
• Conference:
  • 55th Annual Scientific Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
  • Location: Paris , France
  • Date: 2011-10-3 to 2011-10-5
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 207-216
• Monograph Title: Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine. 55th Annual Scientific Conference, Paris, France, October 3-5, 2011
• Serial:
  • Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine
  • Volume: 55
  • Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)
  • ISSN: 1943-2461

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile drivers; Crash causes; Crashes; Drug effects; Drug use; High risk drivers; Highway safety; Medication; Nervous system; Risk assessment; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Prevalence
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01357688
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 29 2011 1:44PM