title: Professional experience and traffic accidents/near-miss accidents among truck drivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between the time working as a truck driver and the report of involvement in traffic accidents or near-miss accidents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed with truck drivers transporting products from the Brazilian grain harvest to the Port of Paranaguá, Paraná, Brazil. The drivers were interviewed regarding sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, behavior in traffic and involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents in the previous 12 months. Subsequently, the participants answered a self-applied questionnaire on substance use. The time of professional experience as drivers was categorized in tertiles. Statistical analyses were performed through the construction of models adjusted by multinomial regression to assess the relationship between the length of experience as a truck driver and the involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study included 665 male drivers with an average age of 42.2 (±11.1) years. Among them, 7.2% and 41.7% of the drivers reported involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, respectively. In fully adjusted analysis, the 3rd tertile of professional experience (>22years) was shown to be inversely associated with involvement in accidents (odds ratio [OR] 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16-0.52) and near-miss accidents (OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.05-0.53). The 2nd tertile of professional experience (11-22 years) was inversely associated with involvement in accidents (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.40-0.98).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An evident relationship was observed between longer professional experience and a reduction in reporting involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, regardless of age, substance use, working conditions and behavior in traffic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: eddieuel@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Edmarlon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Girotto
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Department of Public Health, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Brazil.
authors.forename: Selma Maffei de
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Department of Public Health, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Brazil.
authors.forename: Alberto Durán
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Department of Public Health, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Brazil.
authors.forename: Arthur Eumann
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mesas
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Professional experience; Traffic accidents; Truck drivers