High risk characteristics for motor vehicle crashes in persons with diabetes by age

Songer, Thomas J.; Dorsey, Rashida R.

Affiliations

¹Center for Injury Research and Control, Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Studies highlight a higher involvement of drivers with diabetes in motor vehicle accidents. Extensive debate, though, exists over the most appropriate approach to license these drivers. Risk factors for crashes in persons with diabetes are not well defined. In this report, motor vehicle crash involvement was identified in two cohorts of persons with type 1 diabetes to identify if crash patterns and characteristics differ by age. Overall, reported crashes decline with age in persons with and without diabetes, but the crash risk remained higher for persons with diabetes throughout the age span. No relationship was observed between diabetes complications, blood glucose control, and diabetes treatment patterns and motor vehicle crashes. Severe hypoglycemia, though, was consistently and strongly related to crashes at all ages. The findings suggest that the crash risk related to hypoglycemia does not diminish markedly in persons with Type 1 diabetes, despite changes in health and age.

Cited Works (2)

Year	Entry
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Cited By (2)

Year	Entry
2009	Soderstrom CA, Scottino MA, Joyce JJ, Burch C, Ho SM, Kerns TJ. Police referral of drivers to the maryland motor vehicle admininstration’s medical advisory board. In: 53rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 2009; Baltimore, MD.105-116.
2010	Cox DJ, Singh H, Clarke WL, Anderson SM, Kovatchev BP, Gonder-Frederick LA. Metabolic demand of driving among adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). In: 54th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 17-20, 2010; Las Vegas, NV.367-372.