Driving Under the Influence of Medicines: Patient Knowledge
Driving Under the Influence of Medicines: Patient Knowledge
It has been known for many years that the consumption of psychoactive substances, such as alcohol, sedatives, anxiolytics, antidepressants or illicit drugs, has a negative effect on the ability to drive. In fact, either alone or in combination, alcohol and psychoactive substances increase the risk of having a traffic accident. According to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Road Safety Unit, 25% of accidents involve alcohol, medicines, or illicit drugs. These accidents are directly responsible for the loss of 10.000 lives due to car crashes in Europe every year. Worldwide, governments and authorities invest a great amount of money and effort in changing the behaviour of road users not only with respect to the use of seat belts and speed limits but also towards driving under the influence of alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines. Despite all the attempts and all the road safety campaigns that have been launched, traffic accidents are still responsible for more than 40,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries across Europe.
Therefore, special efforts are needed in order to have a better knowledge of the various aspects of this specific problem and to develop appropriate solutions. This is the reason why an EU-project under the acronym of DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) was funded by the European Commission. DRUID aims not only to improve the possibilities of detecting drug-influenced driving in Europe but also to combat the scourge of drunk-driving and find answers to the question of the use of drugs or medicines that affect people's ability to drive safely
Reports on the state of knowledge about drugs and driving showed an increased concern about the role that the use of medicines might play in traffic accidents. It has been estimated that 5–10% of medicines impair driving performance as a consequence of their effects or side effects. This is the reason why it is so important to inform drivers who use driving-impairing medicines of the risks of driving under the influence. Research conducted in European countries has shown that patients do want to be informed about their medicines, their risks and side-effects. Similarly, in the U.S., two-thirds of patients reported the desire to be informed of all possible side effects of their medicines. Much of patient knowledge regarding their medicines comes from communication with healthcare professionals, such as general practitioners and pharmacists, media exposure, and reading the safety information on the medicine's label. Age and educational level seem to influence patient awareness and knowledge as health literacy decreases with increasing age.
In order to better understand and predict human behaviour, some theories have been derived to describe and explain how and why people behave the way they do. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the theory of interpersonal behaviour (TIB), and other more recent models with direct application in health research are examples of what has been done in the field of predictive behaviour. TBP was first suggested by Fishbein and Ajzen and TIB is an extension of TBP. Both theories focus on intentions that are personal decisions to perform behaviour and are based on someone's knowledge about themselves and about the world around them. In TBP, intensions are based on attitudes towards the behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control. These three aspects form an intention that, ultimately, leads to a behaviour. TIB, on the other hand, integrates normative and social factors into TBP. In this theory, perceived consequences of behaviour and habits are predictors of intentions that, like in the TBP, lead to behaviour. It might be true that influencing attitudes do not always result in a change of behaviour. Nevertheless, recent studies state that attitude is linked to traffic violations, especially when related to speed limits violations, use of seat belts, and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Having the TBP and TIB as a main reference, this research attempts to determine predictors that can influence not only patients' reported behaviour, but also their knowledge. In a simplified way, the theoretical reasoning behind the construction of the models was based on the assumption that socio-demographic characteristics play a central role in knowledge (evaluated as knowledge about risk of having a traffic accident). Both socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge in combination with attitudes, defined as feelings towards driving under the influence of medicines, were used to predict reported behavior (in terms of change in driving frequency and/or in terms of change in the use of medicines). Figure 1 exemplifies the model that was developed based upon mentioned theoretical insights. The present study is part of DRUID, and it was conducted in 4 countries.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Theoretical model to determine predictors for patient knowledge and reported behavior.
Background
It has been known for many years that the consumption of psychoactive substances, such as alcohol, sedatives, anxiolytics, antidepressants or illicit drugs, has a negative effect on the ability to drive. In fact, either alone or in combination, alcohol and psychoactive substances increase the risk of having a traffic accident. According to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Road Safety Unit, 25% of accidents involve alcohol, medicines, or illicit drugs. These accidents are directly responsible for the loss of 10.000 lives due to car crashes in Europe every year. Worldwide, governments and authorities invest a great amount of money and effort in changing the behaviour of road users not only with respect to the use of seat belts and speed limits but also towards driving under the influence of alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines. Despite all the attempts and all the road safety campaigns that have been launched, traffic accidents are still responsible for more than 40,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries across Europe.
Therefore, special efforts are needed in order to have a better knowledge of the various aspects of this specific problem and to develop appropriate solutions. This is the reason why an EU-project under the acronym of DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) was funded by the European Commission. DRUID aims not only to improve the possibilities of detecting drug-influenced driving in Europe but also to combat the scourge of drunk-driving and find answers to the question of the use of drugs or medicines that affect people's ability to drive safely
Reports on the state of knowledge about drugs and driving showed an increased concern about the role that the use of medicines might play in traffic accidents. It has been estimated that 5–10% of medicines impair driving performance as a consequence of their effects or side effects. This is the reason why it is so important to inform drivers who use driving-impairing medicines of the risks of driving under the influence. Research conducted in European countries has shown that patients do want to be informed about their medicines, their risks and side-effects. Similarly, in the U.S., two-thirds of patients reported the desire to be informed of all possible side effects of their medicines. Much of patient knowledge regarding their medicines comes from communication with healthcare professionals, such as general practitioners and pharmacists, media exposure, and reading the safety information on the medicine's label. Age and educational level seem to influence patient awareness and knowledge as health literacy decreases with increasing age.
In order to better understand and predict human behaviour, some theories have been derived to describe and explain how and why people behave the way they do. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the theory of interpersonal behaviour (TIB), and other more recent models with direct application in health research are examples of what has been done in the field of predictive behaviour. TBP was first suggested by Fishbein and Ajzen and TIB is an extension of TBP. Both theories focus on intentions that are personal decisions to perform behaviour and are based on someone's knowledge about themselves and about the world around them. In TBP, intensions are based on attitudes towards the behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control. These three aspects form an intention that, ultimately, leads to a behaviour. TIB, on the other hand, integrates normative and social factors into TBP. In this theory, perceived consequences of behaviour and habits are predictors of intentions that, like in the TBP, lead to behaviour. It might be true that influencing attitudes do not always result in a change of behaviour. Nevertheless, recent studies state that attitude is linked to traffic violations, especially when related to speed limits violations, use of seat belts, and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Having the TBP and TIB as a main reference, this research attempts to determine predictors that can influence not only patients' reported behaviour, but also their knowledge. In a simplified way, the theoretical reasoning behind the construction of the models was based on the assumption that socio-demographic characteristics play a central role in knowledge (evaluated as knowledge about risk of having a traffic accident). Both socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge in combination with attitudes, defined as feelings towards driving under the influence of medicines, were used to predict reported behavior (in terms of change in driving frequency and/or in terms of change in the use of medicines). Figure 1 exemplifies the model that was developed based upon mentioned theoretical insights. The present study is part of DRUID, and it was conducted in 4 countries.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Theoretical model to determine predictors for patient knowledge and reported behavior.