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Attitudes to driving among patients with diabetes mellitus in Punjab (ADD-Punjab study)
Arshdeep Waris1, Roshna Jose2, Nisha Mathew1
1Department of Endocrinology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, 141008, India.
Aim:
Currently there are no regulations regarding diabetes and driving licensing in India. The study was planned to gather information about attitudes to driving among patients with diabetes mellitus.
Methods:
Adult patients with diabetes mellitus holding a current valid driving license on treatment with insulin or secretagogue were interviewed using a validated structured questionnaire.
Results:
150 patients were interviewed with a mean age of 52 years, males (86%), insulin users (34%) and only secretagogue users (66%). 16 (10.6%) patients had severe hypoglycemia in the past year with 9.3% having hypoglycemic unawareness. Only 32% patients were aware of the relation between hypoglycemia and driving, 88.6% never checked glucose prior to driving and only 23% patients carried carbohydrates for treatment of hypoglycemia during driving. 25 (16.7%) of subjects had hypoglycemia during driving and in 6 (4%) this involved a traffic accident in the past one year.
Conclusions:
Around 4% of patients on hypoglycemia causing treatment have a traffic accident/event every year. In the absence of regulations currently, focus should be on patient education. However, on the long-term appropriate regulations will make the roads safer for patients with diabetes.
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