Citation

Honkasalo M, Elonheimo O, Sane T. Traffic Injury Prev. 2010; 11(3): 258-262.

Affiliation

Nurmijarvi Health Centre, Nurmijarvi, Finland. mikko.honkasalo@nurmijarvi.fi

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15389581003735618

PMID

20544569

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We studied retrospectively the current driving license status in insulin-treated diabetic patients, who had severe hypoglycemia (SH) within an observation period of one year and who lived in two Finnish communities. METHODS: The episodes of SH were identified from local ambulance registers, the databases of local health care units and from patient questionnaires in 680 insulin-treated diabetic patients. The data on current driving licenses were obtained from local police authorities. RESULTS: Of type 1 and type 2 insulin-treated diabetic patients 31.0 and 12.3 percent, respectively, had at least one self-reported SH, whereas 53 (7.8%) of them reported even three or more episodes of SH. Of insulin-treated patients with clustering of SH 68 percent still held a driving license, and 21percent of them held even a license for commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent episodes of SH occur in a minority of insulin-treated diabetic patients. However, two thirds of them still held a valid driving license even for commercial vehicles, which violates the medical standards for diabetes and driving.

Language: en