Association of type-A behavior and personality with accident proneness among drivers

Objective To assess the association of type-A behavior and personality with accident proneness among drivers and to provide evidence for reducing traffic accidents.Methods With 1:1 matched case-control study,46 pairs of drivers from Nanning,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region completed type-A behavior questionnaire and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire(EPQ) scale.Results The score of time urgency(TH),type A behavior(TABS),mental quality(P),and emotional(N) were 13.22±3.91,25.63±6.17,6.93±3.31,and 9.83±5.91,respectively,and were significantly higher in the case group than in the control group(11.54±3.68,23.04±5.67,5.07±2.70,and 7.26±3.40)(P < 0.05 for all).The lie score(L)(12.17±3.99) for case group was lower than the control group(13.61±3.44)(t=-2.08,P < 0.05).TH,CH,TABS,P,and N of the drivers with 15 years driving experience or more in the case group were 13.67±3.85,12.73±2.83,26.39±6.06,7.03±3.04,and 10.42±6.11 and significantly higher than those of the control group(11.16±3.53,11.09±2.88,22.25±5.61,5.00±2.49,and 7.44±3.47)(P < 0.05 for all),but the L score(11.91±4.05) was lower than that of the control group(13.75±3.09)(P < 0.05).The results of univariate logistic regression analysis showed that internal and external personality(odds ratioOR=1.2) and mental quality(OR=1.26) were risk factors for driver accident proneness.Among the drivers in the case group,there were a significant positive correlation between the score of TABS and P or N score of EPQ(P < 0.01) and a significant negative correlation of TABS with L score(P < 0.01).Conclusion The driver accident proneness has relation to type-A behavior and the personality.Both internal and external personality and mental quality are risk factors for driver accident proneness.