Patients with diabetes tend to have various health conditions that can impair their driving ability, including nerve damage (polyneuropathy), retinopathy, amputation, and vascular diseases. This is important as safe driving is dependent on many functions that can be impaired by hypoglycemia, a condition where the level of sugar (glucose) in your blood drops below the range that's healthy for you - which can impair concentration, reaction time, and decision-making, leading to a higher likelihood of accidents.
Researchers from Taiwan analysed 75,737 adult driver victims with type 2 diabetes from Taiwan’s Police-Reported Traffic Accident Registry in 2015–2017. Each crash victim's injury was classified against the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) on the basis of the diagnostic codes from NHI emergency and inpatient claims within 3 days after an MVC. The MAIS classification considers the 3 most severe types of injuries and 7 body regions (i.e., head, neck, face, thorax, abdomen, extremity, and external). Individuals with an MAIS score of ≥3 were considered severely injured, and those with an MAIS score of 1 or 2 were classified as mildly injured.
Key findings:
This is further supported by Redelmeier, Kenshole, and Ray (2009) who found that for every 1% decrease in HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar levels over time), the risk of being involved in a vehicle crash increases by 26%.
Additionally, for every 10 years after someone is diagnosed with diabetes, their risk increases by 29% on average and can rise by up to 57%. While people with a history of severe hypoglycemia that required help from someone else were, on average, 307% more likely to have a crash, with the risk increasing up to 604% in some cases.
Overall, these findings emphasize the urgent need for innovative solutions to mitigate the vehicle risks diabetes poses. With help from Ceratec Health, organizations can access cutting-edge tools to identify diabetes risks early, enabling targeted interventions that enhance employee health, reduce accidents, and safeguard productivity.
References:
Redelmeier, D. A., Kenshole, A. B., & Ray, J. G. (2009). Motor vehicle crashes in diabetic patients with tight glycemic control: a population-based case control analysis. PLoS medicine, 6(12), e1000192. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000192
Hsu, I. L., Hou, W. H., Chang, Y. H., & Li, C. Y. (2022). Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases the severity of non-fatal injuries, but not the risk of fatal injuries, among driver victims of motor vehicle crashes in Taiwan. Epidemiology and health, 44, e2022076. https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022076