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

background and objectives: 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. materials and methods: 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. results: 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. conclusion: 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. references: 1. taylor ah, dorn l. stress, fatigue, health, and risk of road traffic accidents among professional drivers: the contribution of physical inactivity. annu rev public health. 2006;27:371-91. 2. seyyedmehdi s m, dehghan f, salari s, hedayati mashkale m, attarchi m. assessment of frequency of accidents and related factors in professional drivers of heavy vehicles. journal of forensic medicine , 2010;16(3):187-194 3. lagarde e, chastang jf, lafont s, coeuret-pellicer m, chiron m. pain and pain treatment were associated with traffic accident involvement in a cohort of middle-aged workers. journal of clinical epidemiology. 2005;58(5):524-31. 4. .hours m, fort e, charnay p, bernard m, martin jl, boisson d, et al. diseases, consumption of medicines and responsibility for a road crash: a case–control study. accident analysis & prevention. 2008;40(5):1789-96. 5. mcgwin g, sims rv, pulley lv, roseman jm. relations among chronic medical conditions, medications, and automobile crashes in the elderly: a population-based case-control study. american journal of epidemiology. 2000;152(5):424-31. 6. .stinchcombe a, gagnon s. aging and driving in a complex world: exploring age differences in attentional demand while driving. transp res part f traffic psychol behav.2013;(17):125-33. 7. young k, regan m, hammer m. driver distraction: a review of the literature. distracted driving sydney, nsw: australasian college of road safety. 2007:379-405. 8. marino m, de belvis a, basso d, avolio m, pelone f, tanzariello m, et al. interventions to evaluate fitness to drive among people with chronic conditions: systematic review of literature. accid anal & prev. 2013;50:377-96. 9. hilton mf, staddon z, sheridan j, whiteford ha. the impact of mental health symptoms on heavy goods vehicle drivers’ performance. accident analysis & prevention. 2009;41(3):453-61. 10. beanland v, fitzharris m, young kl, lenné mg. driver inattention and driver distraction in serious casualty crashes: data from the australian national crash in-depth study. accident analysis & prevention. 2013;54(0):99-107. 11. roca j, lupiáñez j, lópez-ramón m-f, castro c. are drivers’ attentional lapses associated with the functioning of the neurocognitive attentional networks and with cognitive failure in everyday life? 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