EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SPECIAL POPULATION SURVEYS

This paper examines methodological issues relevant to the epidemiology of drugs (other than alcohol) and driving. Its purpose is to: a) identify key methodological problems in surveys designed to determine the incidence and role of drugs in road crashes; and b) recommend standardized methods for data capture and analysis to overcome or, at least, minimize these problems and, thereby, increase the comparability of findings from studies around the world. Since there are legal and cultural constraints on the type of drugs and driving studies that are possible in each jurisdiction, cross-cultural comparisons are vital to our growing understanding of the drug-driving problem. Standardized data gathering methods will increase the opportunity for such comparisons and, thereby, accelerate the rate at which the dynamics of the drugs and driving issue is understood. This chapter is not intended as a comprehensive review of the state- of- knowledge regarding the epidemiology of drugs and driving. Rather, it seeks to provide a set of guidelines for future research that will increase both the validity and utility of individual studies as well as the comparability of their findings. Some degree of methodological standardization will significantly enhance the efficiency of the research effort in this field. (A*) For the covering abstract of this workshop see IRRD 860555.