- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Youth with mood disorders less likely to acquire driver's license and have higher rates of road accidents: JAMA
USA: A recent cohort study of 1879 youths with and 84 294 youths without a mood disorder revealed that youth with mood disorders are 30% less likely to acquire a driver's license than those without. Also, they had a significantly higher rate of moving violations, crashes, and license suspensions.
The findings published in JAMA Network Open suggest that opportunities may exist to improve driving autonomy among youths with mood disorders while concurrently ensuring safe mobility.
Driving is a rite of passage for many youths, symbolizing independence and freedom. However, for those living with mood disorders, the journey to obtaining a driver's license and navigating the responsibilities of driving can be fraught with unique challenges.
Mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and depression, affect millions of youths worldwide. These conditions can significantly affect several aspects of daily life, including decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation—essential skills for safe driving. The understanding of how mood disorders are associated with youth driving outcomes is limited. To widen the knowledge about the same, Christopher E. Gaw, Division of Emergency Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between the presence of a mood disorder and rates of licensing, crashes, violations, and suspensions among adolescents and young adults.
For this purpose, the researchers undertook a cohort study among New Jersey residents born between 1987 to 2000, age eligible to acquire a driver’s license from 2004 to 2017, and patients of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia network within 2 years of licensure eligibility at age 17 years.
Among 1879 youths with and 84 294 youths without a current mood disorder from 2004 to 2017, rates of licensure and driving outcomes among youths who were licensed were compared.
The investigators assessed the acquisition of a driver’s license and first involvement as a driver in a police-reported crash and rates of other adverse driving outcomes. Adjusted rate ratios (aRRs) were estimated for driving outcomes 12 and 48 months following licensure. Survival analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for driving and licensing outcomes.
The study led to the following findings:
- Among 86 173 youths (median age at the end of the study, 22.8 years; 49.8% were females), there were 1879 youths with and 84 294 youths without a mood disorder.
- A greater proportion of youths with mood disorders were female (65.2%) compared with those without mood disorders (49.4%).
- At 48 months after licensure eligibility, 75.5% and 83.8% of youths with and without mood disorders, respectively, had acquired a license.
- Youths with mood disorders were 30% less likely to acquire a license than those without a mood disorder (aHR, 0.70).
- Licensed youths with mood disorders had higher overall crash rates than those without mood disorders over the first 48 months of driving (137.8 vs 104.8 crashes per 10,000 driver-months; aRR, 1.19); licensed youths with mood disorders also had higher rates of moving violations (aRR, 1.25) and license suspensions (aRR, 1.95).
In conclusion, the study found that youths with mood disorders were less likely to be licensed and had higher rates of adverse driving outcomes than those without mood disorders.
"These findings suggest that opportunities may exist to enhance driving mobility in this population and elucidate the mechanisms by which mood disorders are associated with crash risk," the researchers wrote.
Reference:
Gaw CE, Metzger KB, Pfeiffer MR, et al. Driver’s Licensure and Driving Outcomes Among Youths With Mood Disorders. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(4):e245543. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.5543
MSc. Biotechnology
Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751