DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) aims to combat the scourge of drink-driving and find answers to the question of the use of drugs or medicines that affect people’s ability to drive safely. It will bring together the most experienced organisations in Europe to assemble a co-ordinated set of data resources and measures. Work package 2 of DRUID will analyse the prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances in accidents and in the general driving population, among others by means of roadside surveys and hospital studies on injured drivers from road traffic accidents. Roadside surveys are carried out in the following 13 countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands. Hospital studies are carried out in the following 8 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Sweden and The Netherlands. In those countries where both types of studies are carried out, relative risk estimations for the accident involvement while impaired are calculated. One of the tasks in Work package 2 (task 2.1.2) aims at setting up a uniform design for the epidemiological case-control studies. These can only be carried out in countries where the legislation allows random check of the general driving population and where approval can be obtained regarding taking samples from injured drivers admitted to the hospitals. Before starting epidemiological case-control studies, co-operation with police, hospitals and toxicologists, will be established and devices to be used for sample collection must be agreed upon. Also approval from medical ethics committees and other ethical and legal issues must be guaranteed. There are large differences between the EU countries in the possibilities of carrying out this kind of research. The design has been chosen in close co-operation with the results from existing projects (e.g. ROSITA and IMMORTAL) and in a way that aims at maximising the similarities of the surveys in participating countries. In order to be able to calculate the relative risk and to compare the prevalence as well as the relative risk in the various countries, a uniform study design has been set up for roadside surveys and hospital studies. Furthermore, uniform guidelines regarding collection of specimen, transport of specimen as well as analysis of specimen have been derived. Finally, a decision has been made regarding a core list of 23 substances, including alcohol, to be analysed for in all countries. This working paper includes all decisions taken as part of the uniform design. The following partners have contributed to the various guidelines: DTF, UGent, SWOV, TOI, KTL, UKL-HD and TFA-UNDP. (Author/publisher) This document is available at https://www.bast.de/Druid/EN/Home/home_node.html
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