The characterization of drug and alcohol use among senior drivers fatally injured in U.S. motor vehicle collisions, 2008-2012

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Traffic Inj Prev
• Personal Author:
  Rudisill, Toni M. ; Zhu, Motao ; Abate, Marie ; Davidov, Danielle ; Delagarza, Vincent ; Long, D. Leann ; Sambamoorthi, Usha ; Thornton, J. Doug
• Description:
  Objective
  
  Adults 65 years of age and older comprise the fastest growing demographic in the United States. As substance use is projected to increase in this population, there is concern that more seniors will drive under the influence of impairing drugs. The purpose of this analysis was to characterize the drug and alcohol usage among senior drivers fatally injured (FI) in traffic collisions.
  
  Methods
  
  Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System were analyzed from 2008-2012. Commonly used classes and specific drugs were explored. Rates of drug use, multiple drugs, concomitant drug and alcohol use, and alcohol use alone were generated using Poisson regression with robust error variance estimation. Rates were compared to a reference population of FI middle-aged drivers (30 to 50 years old) using rate ratios.
  
  Results
  
  Drug use among FI senior drivers occurred in 20.0% of those tested. Among drug-positive FI senior drivers, narcotics and depressants were frequent. The prevalence of testing positive for any drug, multiple drugs, combined drug and alcohol, and alcohol use alone among FI seniors were 47% less (RR=0.53, 95% CI 0.47, 0.62), 59% less (RR=0.41, 95% CI 0.34, 0.51), 87% less (RR=0.13, 95% CI 0.09, 0.19) and 77% less (RR=0.23, 95% CI 0.19, 0.28), respectively, compared to FI middle-aged drivers.
  
  Conclusions
  
  While overall drug use is less common among FI senior drivers relative to FI middle-aged drivers, driving under the influence of drugs may be a relevant traffic safety concern in a portion of this population.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Accidents, Traffic Aged Aged Adults Driving Under The Influence Epidemiology Female Humans Male Nonprescription Drugs Prescription Drugs Prevalence Substance-Related Disorders Traffic Collisions United States

  More +
• Source:
  Traffic Inj Prev. 17(8):788-795
• Pubmed ID:
  27027152
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5039044
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R49CE002109/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/ ; R21 HD085122/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 AG050581/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R49 CE002109/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R21 CE001820/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U54 GM104942/GM/NIGMS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 HD074594/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  8
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f83333e188242d1ebc886ddcb10197bcd0754ef9cdc48fe037faea30a2c72c5e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42159/cdc_42159_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 117.79 KB ]