Investigate Road Accident Risk Levels for Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) Victims

摘要

The crash risk was studied of 725 licensed drivers (552 male and 173 female) in Chittenden County, Vermont, who had been hospitalized for Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) in Burlington, and discharged between January 1, 1975 and December 31, 1979. The crask risk was studied also of two matched comparisons for each patient--an age-sex-residence (ASR) and a sex-residence (SR) match, who had not been hospitalized with IHD over the sample period. The overall crash rate for IHD patients was 4.8 percent per year as compared to 6.8 percent and 8.2 percent for the ASR and SR comparison groups, respectively. The overall crash rate in the State of Vermont in 1980 was a little over 7 percent. An associated NRTA-AARP study showed that following hospitalization, IHD patients drive, on the average, 20 percent less miles than before, and tend to avoid stressful or hazardous driving environments. This study does not support a claim that other medically impaired drivers (e.g., diabetics or epileptics) have equivalent low crash risk potential.