The role of acute medical conditions, drugs and alcohol in motor vehicles accidents: A narrative review

Background and Purpose: Clinicians and other health care providers should consider association of acute medical conditions and motor vehicle collision. This study was performed to determine the role of acute medical conditions, drugs, and alcohol in motor vehicle accidents.

Methods: This study was a narrative review performed during 2006 to 2016 through searching electronic databases (PubMed, Ovid Medline, EMBASE, Transport Research International Documentation [TRID], Scopus, and Global Health). The following keywords were applied: “acute medical conditions”, “driver”, “drugs”, “alcohol”, “motor vehicle accident”, and “collision”. Relevant articles were selected after evaluation and full text articles were assessed.

Results: In this study, among the 35279 retrieved articles, 20 were selected. The articles were divided into three main categories of impaired driving due to acute medical conditions, impaired driving caused by medications, and alcohol-impaired driving.

Conclusion: Results of studies indicated that medicines and acute medical conditions render the driver at significant risk of accidents. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of this problem, educate their patients, and/or consider safer alternatives for some medications. Medical evaluation forms are necessary in support of licensing decisions for medically at-risk drivers. In addition, screening programs should be implemented for high-risk drivers to minimize unsafe driving due to acute medical conditions.