H. T. Hashim, Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, Askar Shah, Jaffar Shah, H. T. Ali, Ali Talib Hashim, Idris Sula
{"title":"Stimulant Drug Using, Road Traffic Accidents, and Illegal\nActivities among Highway Drivers in Iraq in 2022: A Nation-Wide\nCross-Sectional Survey","authors":"H. T. Hashim, Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, Askar Shah, Jaffar Shah, H. T. Ali, Ali Talib Hashim, Idris Sula","doi":"10.2174/0126660822275897231211062850","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n\nDrug and stimulant abuse is especially common in low and middle-\nincome countries, such as Iraq and certain populations, such as highway drivers.\nMoreover, Iraq has high rates of traffic and road accidents.\n\n\n\nOur objective was to assess the associations of using stimulants with traffic\nevents among highway drivers in Iraq.\n\n\n\nWe used a cross-sectional study design, in which a self-administered questionnaire\nwas distributed online on different social media platforms. The study included male\nhighway drivers who used drugs from all provinces of Iraq. The questionnaire consisted of\ndemographic questions and an addiction questionnaire about stimulants specially validated\nfor the Arabic language. We followed a convenience sampling method to recruit participants.\n\n\n\nA total of 1700 participants from 18 provinces were included with a median\n(IQR) age of 34 (24:55) years. Around 58% used drugs for reasons other than medical indications,\nwhile 81% reported abusing prescription drugs. Amphetamine and cocaine were\nused by 52% and 20% of the participants, respectively. Around 84% of the drivers had at\nleast 56 driving hours per week, while 87% were involved in illegal activities due to drug\nuse. Most of the participants (78%) had accidents at least three times per month. Most of\nthe participants had social and medical issues.\n\n\n\nDrug use, especially stimulant use, is a major contributor to road accidents\nand thus, increased morbidity and mortality rates in Iraq. Urgent policies and regulations\nare needed regarding the dispensing of drugs and the working hours of the drivers.\n","PeriodicalId":36711,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Research and Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Psychiatry Research and Reviews","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2174/0126660822275897231211062850","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Drug and stimulant abuse is especially common in low and middle-
income countries, such as Iraq and certain populations, such as highway drivers.
Moreover, Iraq has high rates of traffic and road accidents.
Our objective was to assess the associations of using stimulants with traffic
events among highway drivers in Iraq.
We used a cross-sectional study design, in which a self-administered questionnaire
was distributed online on different social media platforms. The study included male
highway drivers who used drugs from all provinces of Iraq. The questionnaire consisted of
demographic questions and an addiction questionnaire about stimulants specially validated
for the Arabic language. We followed a convenience sampling method to recruit participants.
A total of 1700 participants from 18 provinces were included with a median
(IQR) age of 34 (24:55) years. Around 58% used drugs for reasons other than medical indications,
while 81% reported abusing prescription drugs. Amphetamine and cocaine were
used by 52% and 20% of the participants, respectively. Around 84% of the drivers had at
least 56 driving hours per week, while 87% were involved in illegal activities due to drug
use. Most of the participants (78%) had accidents at least three times per month. Most of
the participants had social and medical issues.
Drug use, especially stimulant use, is a major contributor to road accidents
and thus, increased morbidity and mortality rates in Iraq. Urgent policies and regulations
are needed regarding the dispensing of drugs and the working hours of the drivers.