TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Many diabetic patients with recurrent severe hypoglycemias hold a valid driving license. A community-based study in insulin-treated patients with diabetes
JO  - Traffic injury prevention
A1  - Honkasalo, Mikko
A1  - Elonheimo, Outi
A1  - Sane, Timo
SP  - 258
EP  - 262
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
N2  - OBJECTIVE: We studied retrospectively the current driving license status in insulin-treated diabetic patients, who had severe hypoglycemia (SH) within an observation period of one year and who lived in two Finnish communities. METHODS: The episodes of SH were identified from local ambulance registers, the databases of local health care units and from patient questionnaires in 680 insulin-treated diabetic patients. The data on current driving licenses were obtained from local police authorities. RESULTS: Of type 1 and type 2 insulin-treated diabetic patients 31.0 and 12.3 percent, respectively, had at least one self-reported SH, whereas 53 (7.8%) of them reported even three or more episodes of SH. Of insulin-treated patients with clustering of SH 68 percent still held a driving license, and 21percent of them held even a license for commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent episodes of SH occur in a minority of insulin-treated diabetic patients. However, two thirds of them still held a valid driving license even for commercial vehicles, which violates the medical standards for diabetes and driving.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1538-9588
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389581003735618
ID  - ref1
ER  -