رانندگي تحت تاثير اپيوييدها در رانندگان وسايل نقليه سنگين در جاده هاي بين شهري كشور در سال 1380

Driving under influence of opiates in heavy vehicle drivers of Iran in 2001

Introduction: Unintentional injury is the second leading cause of death in Iran. Traffic injuries are the most common cause among all deaths due to unintentional injuries. Driving under influence of drugs (DUID) have been known as one of the major causes of traffic accidents. This study is a road-side survey which was carried out to determine the prevalence of driving under influence of opiates in heavy vehicle drivers of Iran. Methods: Using non probability quota sampling, 1168 drivers were selected from 51 police stations all around the country. A physician interviewed the drivers and urine samples were collected. The presence of morphine in the urine samples was investigated by latex agglutination test. Positive samples were transferred to police force central drug laboratory to perform Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) test. Results: The study showed that 14.4% of drivers (Cl 95%, 12.4-16.4) were positive for opiates. Smoking, age (26-45 years) and lack of seat belt were found to be associated with positive opiate tests. Other variables like: education, type of vehicle, years of driving, total distance of driving during last year, ownership of vehicle were not associated with opiate abuse. Conclusion: According to these findings it seems that antidrug driving efforts should be a major component of road safety activities in Iran. Enforcement of laws need to be done by passing new and more powerful acts. Educational campaigns should be performed and driversʹ beliefs and attitudes must be studied for planning of educational programs.