A case control approach was used to identify variables associated with driving while impaired (DWI). Data utilized for this study were obtained from interviews with individuals in a representative sample of 9,943 Canadians. Individuals convicted for DWI were matched with control subjects (i.e. no DWI convictions) by gender, age, province of residence, education, income, and recent drinking behaviour. During the matching process, 39 current abstainers were found among the DWI offenders and were treated as a separate group for statistical purposes. Three groups were studied and compared: 78 DWI cases, 78 matched controls, and 39 DWI current abstainers. Chi-square and ANOVA statistics were used to detect significant differences among these three groups for 84 variables from the following categories: (a) attitudes, knowledge and behaviour related to drinking and driving, (b) driving behaviour, (c) drinking behaviour and drug use, (d) social issues and, (e) attitudes towards different policy approaches to reducing drinking and driving.
Abstract