[Findings from published meta-analyses of effects of interventions aiming to reduce alcohol-impaired driving]

Driving vehicle under the influence of alcohol is the biggest cause of road traffic deaths worldwide. While extensive amount of interventions are advocated and implemented with the aim of preventing alcohol-impaired driving (AID) and related harm to the individual and the society, scientific evaluation of existing intervention has increasingly drawn attention. Although Japan has succeeded in reducing road fatalities caused by AID since 2000, scientific investigation into the consequences of existing intervention is scant. In the present work, a total of 10 published meta-analyses investigating effects of different interventions to prevent AID were reviewed, most of whose primary studies were conducted in North America. The majority of the interventions included by the investigators of meta-analysis were based on the principle of general deterrence against AID, and relatively fewer meta-analyses investigating the effects of remedial treatment for convicted AID offenders were identified. The other categories of intervention meta-analysed were community-wide intervention or rehabilitation whose components was not limited to AID, but also included alcohol use problem and broader public health issues. Based on the results of the present review, overall evaluation of the interventions pertinent to preventing AID and future direction in conducting primary study was discussed.