Investigating the medical health of drivers and determining the predictive factors in the occurrence of traffic accidents in delinquent drivers

Traffic accidents and their resultant deaths are an important health problem in Iran. Among the three factors of human, road, and vehicle in the occurrence of traffic accidents, human factors have the largest share. The drivers’ physical health is one aspect of the human factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the health of drivers and determine the predictors of high-risk behaviors in the occurrence of traffic accidents in delinquent drivers.

This is a cross-sectional-analytical study done between the years of 1394 to 1396. This study was conducted on a convenience sample of 360 traffic offenders whose cars had been seized by police. Demographic questionnaires and driverschr('39') health screening questionnaire were used to collect information for this study. After collecting the questionnaires and extracting the raw data, the data obtained from the research were analyzed by SPSS software version 23 using descriptive statistics methods, Pearson correlation method, and regression analysis.

In this study, 360 offending drivers were examined. Of those, 328 were male (91.1%), and 32 were female (8.9%). The principal component analysis method was used to obtain the main factors of driverschr('39') health. Driverschr('39') health was significantly associated with demographic variables (p <0.01). Among the demographic variables, level of education, having driving experience, type of job, income level, type of car, history of accidents in the last three years, and maximum speed within the city had a significant relationship with driverschr('39') health (p <0.01). According to the regression analysis, drivers’ health status was considered a factor affecting the incidence of traffic accidents (p <0/001).

Due to the significant relationship between driverschr('39') health and the occurrence of road traffic crashes, these accidents can partly be prevented by improving the health of drivers. Given the importance and sensitivity of driving in the occurrence of road crashes, a more comprehensive physical evaluation before certification of the drivers and periodically after that seems necessary.