Evaluating knowledge and attitude of physicians regarding medicinal drugs and driving: a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study

Background. Drugged driving is a growing traffic safety issue in many countries. Adequate knowledge of physicians concerning the effects of different medicines on driving can help them prescribe safer medications. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of family physicians regarding the effect of medicines on driving. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 91 family physicians in East Azerbaijan Province. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection. This study considered knowledge and attitude as dependent variables and demographic characteristics as independent variables. To investigate the relationship between independent and dependent variables, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and multiple linear regression were used. Data were analyzed using Stata version 17. Results. According to the results, almost 65 (71.43%) of the participants were women and 26 (28.57%) were men with an average age of 31.54 years. The average score of physicians’ attitude about the effect of medicines on driving was 71.70 ± 14.94, and the average score of their knowledge was 37.52 ± 10.23. Therefore, 44 (48.35%) of the physicians had a good level of attitude, whereas 46 (52.87%) of them had a low level of knowledge regarding medications and driving. Receiving education regarding medications and driving was significantly correlated with the level of knowledge and the attitude of physicians (P<0.05). However, no significant relationship was observed between the attitude and knowledge of physicians and other demographic variables. Conclusion. Considering physicians’ inadequate knowledge regarding the effect of medicines on driving, it is essential to hold training and retraining courses in the field of medicines and driving for physicians and develop a classification system for the drugs affecting driving in Iran. Practical Implications. The findings of this study can be presented to the policy-makers of the Ministry of Health in order to provide an opportunity to boost the knowledge and attitude of physicians regarding medicines and driving with the support of universities of medical sciences. As a result, an important step can be taken to reduce traffic accidents caused by prescription medicines.