Effect of the mental and physical disorders status of Tehran's public transportation system bus drivers on the occurrence of crashes

In many studies، chronic diseases are associated with incidence of driving accident. The main objective of the present study is investigation the effect of physical and mental disorders status of bus drivers on the occurrence of crashes. This research is a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study that was performed on 665 bus drivers'' public transportation system in Tehran. The samples were selected randomly and to the proportion of working population in nine bus systems or areas. In order to investigate physical (disease) and mental (family problems) disorders demographic information and health status questionnaires were used. The relationships between variables analyzed through Univariate analysis of variance (UNIANOVA) and Kendall''s tau-b tests by SPSS 16 of software. The results showed 68. 7% of drivers with mental disorders (with family problems) in both groups from healthy and unhealthy (physical diseases) drivers'' had average 3. 2 crashes in the last three years. Furthermore the tests of Univariate analysis of variance (UNIANOVA) (F=0. 43، p<0. 05) and Kendall''s tau-b (r=0. 112، p<0. 01) showed significant and positive correlation between family problems and the number of self-reported crashes over the previous three years. Because of the increased risk of crashes among drivers suffering from mental problems، it is assumed that the removal of economic problems and the use of psychological consultations will reduce family problems including poor emotional relationships of family members which play an important role in increasing attention and concentration of the drivers while driving and consequently reducing traffic crashes.