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The research, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, shows that drivers who are on Prescribed opioids are twice as likely to be involved in fatal two-vehicle crashes as those who do not use drugs. While the United States is battling an opioid epidemic, these findings could affect the decision-making processes of health care providers, say the authors.
The author of the study, Dr. Guohua Li, professor of epidemiology and anesthesiology and founding director of the Center for Epidemiology and Injury Prevention of the University of Columbia, stated that its author and co-author, Stanford Chihuri, was associated with the staff of Columbia's Department of Anesthesiology. undertake this research because "the ongoing opioid epidemic has spread to the country's roads, with fatal consequences".
For this study, researchers used data from the Death Data Analysis System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which contains information on road accidents in the United States. with at least one death within 30 days of the accident. These data are based on "driver-related factors", the dangerous actions of drivers leading to accidents. A driver with at least one driving error that resulted in this fatal accident becomes the initiator of the accident.
The researchers used these driving errors to determine the drivers responsible for the accidents and used the toxicology results to search for the presence of opioids.
After examining 18,321 pairs of drivers who died in a two-car accident between 1993 and 2016, Li and Chihuri found that 54.7% of the deceased drivers who tested positive for prescribed opioids crashed to be able to stay in their hallway. In addition, more accident initiators than non-initiators tested positive for prescribed opioids, alcohol or both.
Previous research has shown that opioids can impair drivers' abilities by giving them dizziness, drowsiness or even sedation. By decreasing alertness and increasing reaction time, opioids increase the risk of collision of patients while driving. Medications often contain warnings against driving, using heavy machinery or participating in other potentially dangerous activities.
The authors acknowledge the limitations of the study. HIV-positive drivers for an opioid were not necessarily weakened. In addition, the mortality analysis reporting system does not record the dose of opioids or alcohol. And while driving errors have been standardized to understand who was responsible for the accident, this information may not be sufficient and vary from state to state.
Li and Chihuri conducted a previous study that showed that prior to the onset of the opioid epidemic in the 1990s, opioid use was only responsible for the use of opioids. about 1% of driver deaths in the United States. As illicit and prescription opioid use has increased, the number of motor vehicle related deaths from opioids has increased to at least 7%., the study says.
According to the researchers, to reverse this trend and prevent patients from falling victim to driving under the influence, education and collaboration between patients and clinicians is needed.
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