Road traffic accident risk in patients with diabetes mellitus receiving blood glucose-lowering drugs. Prospective follow-up study

  1. S. Skurtveit2,3,
  2. H. Strøm2,
  3. T. Skrivarhaug3,
  4. J. Mørland2,4,
  5. J. G. Bramness2,5,
  6. A. Engeland2,6

Article first published online: 27 FEB 2009

DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2009.02699.x

Issue

Diabetic Medicine

Diabetic Medicine

Volume 26, Issue 4, pages 404–408, April 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Skurtveit, S., Strøm, H., Skrivarhaug, T., Mørland, J., Bramness, J. G. and Engeland, A. (2009), Road traffic accident risk in patients with diabetes mellitus receiving blood glucose-lowering drugs. Prospective follow-up study. Diabetic Medicine, 26: 404–408. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2009.02699.x

Author Information

  1. 2

    Department of Pharmacy, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

  2. 3

    Department of Paediatrics, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

  3. 4

    Institute of Pharmacology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

  4. 5

    Norwegian Centre for Addictive Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

  5. 6

    Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Bergen, Norway

*Dr Svetlana Skurtveit, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404 Nydalen, NO-0403 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: Svetlana.skurtveit@fhi.no

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 APR 2009
  2. Article first published online: 27 FEB 2009
  3. Accepted 10 February 2009

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Keywords:

  • diabetic patient;
  • insulin;
  • oral glucose-lowering agent;
  • Norway;
  • traffic accident risk

Abstract

Aim  To investigate, at a national level, whether patients using insulin or oral glucose-lowering agents had an increased risk of road traffic accidents compared with non-users.

Methods  All Norwegians aged 18–69 years (3.1 million) were followed from April 2004 until September 2006. Information on drug prescriptions, road traffic accidents and emigration/death was obtained from the following population-based registries: the Prescription Database, the Road Accident Registry and the Central Population Registry. The exposure period was the time from the first prescription of insulin or oral glucose-lowering agent during the study period. The incidence of accidents in the exposed person-time was compared with the incidence of accidents in the unexposed person-time by standardized incidence ratio (SIR).

Results  During the study period, 20 494 road traffic accidents with personal injuries were registered in Norway. One hundred and eighty-three accidents were registered for insulin users not taking oral glucose-lowering agents and 219 for users of oral blood glucose-lowering drugs without insulin. The SIR (95% confidence interval) for all ages and both genders combined were: insulin 1.4 (1.2–1.6), oral glucose-lowering agents 1.2 (1.0–1.3) and users of drugs for peptic ulcer and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (negative comparators) 1.3 (1.2–1.4). The highest SIRs were found among the youngest insulin users (18–34 years old).

Conclusions  A slightly increased risk of being involved in a road traffic accident was observed for drivers prescribed insulin, while no increased risk was observed for drivers prescribed oral glucose-lowering agents. The increased risk observed for insulin users was similar to that observed for users of drugs for peptic ulcer and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

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