Is There Any Relationship between Mental Health and Driving Behavior of Taxi Drivers in Kerman?

Traffic accidents are the main reason of disability and the second reason of mortality in Iran. Therefore finding out the effective factors is vital. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between mental health and taxi drivers’ behavior in Kerman. This is a cross-sectional descriptive research in which Manchester driving behavior questionnaire (MDBQ) and “general health questionnaire (GHQ)” were used. The questionnaires were distributed between 186 taxi drivers during February and March 2015. Our study was conducted in the province of Kerman in the east south of Iran. We used descriptive methods as well as t-tests, chi-square tests, and logit models for data analysis. The data analysis showed that the driving behavior of Kermanian taxi drivers is good (0.481±4.13) and the mental health situation of them is partly good (0.662±3.61). The Pearson’s correlation test showed overall driving behavior score is correlated positively with mental health score (r=0.83, P=0.000). Also there were positive correlations between all driving behavior dimensions and mental health dimensions at a level of significance of 0.005. The result of Chi-Square Test showed that there the younger drivers and who had less driving experience had higher mental health score. Single drivers and who had less education, which had faced with financial loss in their previous accidents, which had lose their driving license for a while, higher driving behavior score compared to the others (P<0.05). By some improvement actions in driver’s mental health, we can effect on their behavior. And by proper driving behaviors, we can avoid from some mortalities, disabilities and heavy costs on society.