|
Affiliation
|
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine , Department of Pharmacology , Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology , Serbia. |
|
Abstract
|
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was primarily to evaluate inebriated fatally injured drivers (FIDs) according to blood alcohol concentration (BAC), in 10-year period (2004-2013) in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, to analyse the efficacy alcohol polices in new law on road traffic safety through the changes of number of inebriated FIDs before and after the law implementation, as well as to identify factors that influence the occurrence of FIDs with BAC above legal limit.
METHODS: All the data for this retrospective study were obtained from Centre of Forensic Medicine, Toxicology and Molecular Genetics of Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad. Autopsy record of each case for this analysis included: age, gender, BAC, type of the vehicle, and date of the accident (year, month, and recalculated day of the week). BAC was determined by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection. The statistical analysis was carried out by Chi-square test and Student's T test, with p<0.05 as a statistical significance, and multiple binary logistic regression.
RESULTS: Of the total of 354 inebriated FIDs (60% of all FIDs), the majority was with BAC category of 0.031-0.3 mg/ml (28%), followed by those with BAC > 2.01 mg/ml (23%). The average BAC of DUIA for whole period was 1.235±1.00 mg/ml and the average number of DUIA/year was 35. Among total number of FIDs the male gender was significantly dominant (93.7%; p<0.001) vs. females (6.3%) while the distribution of intoxicated among men and women was not different (p>0.05). There was statistically significant difference in the distribution of sober and inebriated FIDs according to age categories (p<0.001) with the predominance of inebriated FIDs referred to the one of 21-30 years. Although gender and age were found to be significant predictors of BAC above legal limit in FIDs, the area under ROC curve showed that the model had poor discrimination (ROC = 0.673). Of all observed FIDs 65 cases per year were attributed to the first period (2004-2009) and 49 ones to the second one (2010-2013) which made no statistically significant decrease of the number of FIDs after the new law implementation.
CONCLUSION: The highest number of drunken FIDs during observed period in AP Vojvodina was mildly and completely inebriated. In 4-year post-policy period (2010-2013), the number of FIDs and average BAC levels of inebriated FIDs were not significantly changed. The abolition of permissible BAC should be considered.
Language: en |