Accident proneness, does it exist? A review and meta-analysis

Accident related health problems have been suggested to cluster within persons. This phenomenon became known as accident proneness and has been a subject of many discussions. This study provides an overview of accident proneness. Therefore, 79 articles with empirical data on accident rates were identified from databases Embase, Medline, and Psychinfo. First, definitions of accidents varied highly, but most studies focused on accidents resulting in injuries requiring medical attention. Second, operationalisations of accident proneness varied highly. Studies categorized individuals into groups with ascending accident rates or made non-accident, accident, and repetitive accident groups. Third, studies examined accidents in specific contexts (traffic, work, and sports) or populations (children, students, and patients). Therefore, we concluded that no overall prevalence rate of accident proneness could be given due to the large variety in operationalisations. However, a meta-analysis of the distribution of accidents in the general population showed that the observed number of individuals with repeated accidents was higher than the number expected by chance. In conclusion, accident proneness exists, but its study is severely hampered by the variation in operationalisations of the concept. In an effort to reach professional consensus on the concept, we end this paper with recommendations for further research.

• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V5S-4MBC002-2/2/45ccdefa2a9759751876d099e6c50115
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier
• Authors:
  • Visser, Ellen
  • Pijl, Ysbrand J
  • Stolk, Ronald P
  • Neeleman, Jan
  • Rosmalen, Judith G M
• Publication Date: 2007-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 556-564
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Crash victims; Empirical methods; Health; High risk drivers; Literature reviews; Meta-analysis
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01051777
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jun 19 2007 8:28AM