Reported prevalence of health conditions that affect drivers

Drivers' health and fitness are essential factors in order to predict performance outcomes and to promote road safety. It is a demonstrated fact that drivers with (physical and mental) health impairments or illnesses have more probabilities of being involved in traffic crashes and suffering (or causing) several injuries. The general objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of adverse health conditions that may affect Spanish drivers and its perceived impact on driving fitness. It was used a sample of 1200 Spanish drivers (666 men and 534 women). The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and to drive frequently. As a first result, 42% of the participants considered that sometimes they were not in good health conditions to drive and 1.8% considered it frequently. Furthermore, fatigue, alcohol, negative emotions, drowsiness, headaches, respiratory disease, and fever the most prevalent health conditions impairing driver's fitness. Statistical analysis revealed gender differences in reported health and fitness between male and female drivers. The main cause reported to avoid driving task was to suffer illnesses related to physical health (77.6% of drivers). Based on this study, it can be stated that the Administration should work together with the primary health care system in order to improve drivers' awareness on the risk of driving while suffering symptoms of any common physical or mental illness