Drugged Driving in Alcohol-restricted Rural Appalachia

描述(由申请人提供)：尽管早期和持续地认识到药物损害驾驶是一个主要的公共卫生问题，但关于药物损害驾驶的文献并没有经历与酒精相关的酒后驾车文献同样的增长。这项申请提出了一项研究，以检查阿巴拉契亚农村地区的酒精受损和药物受损驾驶，这是一组几乎没有研究的酒后驾车罪犯。尽管阿巴拉契亚农村的一些县允许酒精销售(潮湿的县)，但有几个县不允许销售酒精(干燥的县)，或者限制某些城镇的酒精销售(潮湿的县)。尽管酒后驾车的酒精供应水平不同，但在阿巴拉契亚农村，酒后驾车仍然是一种常见的犯罪行为。阿巴拉契亚农村地区处方药滥用的高比率可能是这些地区酒后驾车发生率的原因之一。在这项试点研究中，将采访120名阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车罪犯，按酒精销售限制级别(湿、干或潮湿县)进行分层。该项目的具体目的是：(1)描述阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车罪犯的个人特征，包括社会人口信息、酒精和毒品使用史、对酒精和毒品使用的态度和信念以及受损驾驶历史；(2)确定阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车罪犯和阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车罪犯在酒精而不是毒品影响下驾车的异同；(3)确定在不同酒类销售限制县被判有罪的阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车罪犯之间的异同。这个项目的总体目标是增加我们对阿巴拉契亚农村地区酒精和药物损害驾驶的了解。这个项目的长期目标是收集数据，供这位新的调查员用来开发一个竞争性的R01应用程序，以设计和测试针对阿巴拉契亚农村酒后驾车违法者的量身定做的干预措施，同样解决酒精和毒品损害的驾驶问题。每年有超过3500万美国人在酒精或毒品的影响下开车。这个项目将收集信息，将酒精受损的司机与来自阿巴拉契亚农村的毒品受损的司机进行比较，阿巴拉契亚是一个研究不足的地区，但众所周知，酒精和处方药滥用的水平很高。该项目的长期目标是开发一种干预措施，以减少该地区的受损驾驶。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The literature on drug-impaired driving has not experienced the same growth as the alcohol-related DUI literature despite the early and continued recognition that drug-impaired driving is a major public health concern. This application proposes a study to examine alcohol-impaired and drug-impaired driving in rural Appalachia, a group of DUI offenders who are virtually unstudied. Although some counties in rural Appalachia allow alcohol sales (wet counties), several do not allow alcohol to be sold (dry counties), or limit alcohol sales to certain towns (moist counties). DUI remains a frequent crime in rural Appalachia despite these differing levels of alcohol availability. The high rates of prescription drug abuse in rural Appalachia may contribute to the incidence of DUI in these areas. In this pilot study, a sample of 120 rural Appalachian DUI offenders, stratified by level of alcohol sales restriction (wet, dry, or moist county), will be interviewed. The specific aims for this project are to: (1) Describe individual characteristics of rural Appalachian DUI offenders, including socio-demographic information, alcohol and drug use histories, attitudes and beliefs about alcohol and drug use, and history of impaired driving; (2) Identify similarities and differences between individuals from rural Appalachian DUI offenders who have driven under the influence of drugs and rural Appalachian DUI offenders who have driven under the influence of alcohol but not drugs; and (3) Identify similarities and differences between rural Appalachian DUI offenders convicted in counties with varying levels of alcohol sales restriction. The overall aim of this project is to add to our understanding of alcohol- and drug-impaired driving in rural Appalachia. The long term objective of this project is to collect data to be used by this new investigator to develop a competitive R01 application to design and test a tailored intervention for rural Appalachian DUI offenders that equally addresses alcohol- and drug-impaired driving. More than 35 million Americans drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs per year. This project will collect information to compare alcohol-impaired drivers to drug-impaired drivers from rural Appalachia, an understudied area yet known to have high levels of alcohol and prescription drug abuse. The long term objective of the project is to develop an intervention to reduce impaired driving in this area.