Jeffrey Brubacher

Background: There are myriad risk factors for risky driving behaviour in youth. Perceived environment which is defined as the perception of driving risk and norms is the most complex factor. Leisure activities are a central part of youth’s daily lives that can substantially shape the driving perceived environment by providing the platform for interaction with peers, family, society, and media. However, the potential relationship between leisure activities and risky driving behaviour has seldom been studied. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between various leisure activities and risky driving behaviour among young drivers in Canada.Methods: An online survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Participants aged 16–24 years were approached through Facebook advertisements. The survey comprised of four questionnaires, namely, sociodemographic, personality trait (Mini-IPIP), leisure activities, and Behaviour Young Novice Driver Scale (BYNDS). Chi-square test examined differences between the driver group and proportional odds logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between the predictor variables and risky driving behaviour.Results: Participants (n=964), aged 18.34±2.31, were grouped into high risk (46.9%), medium risk (32.4%), and low risk (20.7%) drivers. Those with higher levels of drug engagement (OR=2.09, CI 95%=1.21-3.71), time with friends (OR=1.98, CI 95%=1.46-2.68), social media engagement (OR=1.83, CI 95%=1.34-2.49), and movie watching engagement (OR=1.52, CI 95%=1.00-2.31) tended to manifest more risky driving behaviour. In contrast, those with high levels of reading/writing engagement (OR=0.60, CI 95%= 0.42-0.85), volunteering engagement (OR=0.60, CI 95%=0.36-0.96), and playing video game engagement (OR=0.56, CI 95%=0.38-0.81) were less likely to perform risky driving behaviour. Other factors such as owning a car (OR=3.01, CI 95% 2.21-4.11), being male (OR=2.52, CI 95%=1.85-3.42), being simultaneously employed and a student, (OR=1.58, CI 95%=1.16-2.16), high driving exposure (OR=2.58, CI 95%=1.54-4.41), high neuroticism (OR=1.83, CI 95%=1.23-2.73), high extroversion (OR=1.60, CI 95%=1.09-2.35), and low imagination (OR=1.53, CI 95%=1.01-2.34) increased the likelihood of risky driving behaviour.Conclusions: This study provides new insight and explores the association between leisure activities and risky driving behaviour. Results from this study could be used to further explore leisure activities as a potential determinant of risky driving behaviour in future injury prevention research.

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On average, one person attempts suicide by jumping from a bridge in the LowerMainland of British Columbia once every 14 days, but the population that jumps and theiroutcomes following a suicide attempt are poorly understood.A multi-agency retrospective chart review was performed using records from theCanadian Coast Guard, Joint Rescue Coordination Center, police departments, and theBritish Columbia Coroner’s Service to identify incidents. A complete picture of eachincident was then built by identifying corresponding BC Ambulance Service and hospitalrecords, and linking all records for each incident. This methodology successfullyidentified a comprehensive list of incidents, and may be useful in future prehospital andsearch and rescue medicine research. Records from the ten agencies involved in theseincidents were collected and linked to create a dataset describing all known jumps from abridge >12m in height in the Lower Mainland of BC from January 1, 2006 to February 28,2017. 1208 incidents were identified, 273 were confirmed jumps, and 197 were jumps intowater. The multi-agency linkage portion of the study was highly successful; outcomeswere identified for 90.6% of all incidents.The population that jumps from a bridge is similar to those who commit suicide by othermeans. Those jumping are mostly male (74.9%), and early to mid-life (IQR 28-48 years).Of those who jumped and hit water, 59.9% were promptly recovered, 25.4% wereiiitransported to hospital and 15.2% survived. Survival is dependent on bridge height,patient age, and time interval between jumping and being recovered from the water.The presence or absence of vital signs, and level of consciousness (measured on the AVPUscale) on recovery appears to prognosticate survival to hospital discharge. This may assistprehospital care providers making treatment decisions for these patients.

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