New study by Canadian researchers finds that
pregnant female drivers are at a higher risk of serious motor vehicle crashes,
with a peak increase in relative risk of 42% during early second trimester.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Researchers
at the University of Toronto reported today in
the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) that
pregnancy is associated with a considerably higher risk of serious motor
vehicle crash, particularly among drivers in their second trimester compared
with their risk before pregnancy. The authors of the report defined serious
motor vehicle crash as one in which the pregnant driver was sent to a hospital
emergency room for suspected or apparent injuries. This risk of serious crash
in the first month of the second trimester peaked at 42% and dropped precipitously
by the third trimester.
“It amounts
to about a one in fifty statistical risk of the average women having a motor
vehicle crash at some point during her pregnancy,” said study leader Donald
Redelmeier of the University of Toronto.
The
longitudinal cohort study involved a total of 507,262 Ontario women over 18
years of age who gave birth during the study period that ran between April 1,
2006 and March 31, 2011. The study population when behind the wheel accounted
for 6922 crashes during the study’s three-year baseline period, which
calculates to a rate of 177 crashes per month. When behind the wheel during
their second trimester of pregnancy, these women accounted for 757 crashes or
252 crashes per month. When compared to the baseline crash rate, the second
trimester drivers had a relative risk of 1.42, meaning that the probability of
crash for drivers in their second trimester was 1.42 times higher than their
probability of crash before pregnancy.
The research
team observed that the increased risk “extended to diverse populations, varied
obstetrical cases, and different crash characteristics.” Their analysis
revealed that the relative risk for crash while pregnant was higher among urban
versus rural female drivers and slightly higher for women with prior births
compared with women who were experiencing their first pregnancy. Relative risk
of crash for these women was also higher in the morning. Relative risks were
not elevated for the women when they were passengers or pedestrians.
The
researchers speculated little on reasons for why the risk for crash is so high
among the second trimester, citing a paucity of research into possible
cognitive lapses during pregnancy.
“The message
here is not to stop driving,” said Redelmeier. “The message is to start driving
more carefully.”
The CMAJ has
made the full-text report available fordownload.
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