Medico-legal aspects regarding drunk driving: experience and competency in practice of community service doctors

Figures & data

Table 1: Province of community service by participants

Province of community service	%
Western Cape	7.9
Eastern Cape	10.1
Northern Cape	12.4
North-West	13.5
Gauteng	6.7
Mpumalanga	5.6
Limpopo	1.1
Free State	39.3
KwaZulu-Natal	3.4

Figure 1: Number of instances of alleged drunk driving encountered by participants during their community service year (n = 55).

Table 2: Observations prior to examination and sample taking

Item	Yes, always (%)	Yes, sometimes (%)	No (%)
Accompanying member of the South African Police Service*	88.8	9.3	1.9
Accompanied by necessary documentation (SAPS 308(A))	78.2	16.3	5.5
Alleged drunken driver brought in within 2 h of incident*	33.3	64.8	1.9
Obtaining consent for examination and collection of blood sample	50.9	29.1	20

* n = 54.

Figure 2: Substance used to clean area where blood is to be taken (n = 51).

Table 3: Steps in maintaining the chain of evidence

Item	Yes, always (%)	Yes, sometimes (%)	No (%)
Accompanied by necessary alcohol kit (n = 55)	80	14.5	5.5
Checking the kit beforehand (n = 53)	85	7.5	7.5
Personally breaking the seal (n = 53)	94.3	3.8	1.9
Sealing the kit personally (n = 53)	94.3	1.9	3.8
Handing documentation and alcohol kit to investigating officer (n = 50)	96	0	4

Table 4: History taking and examination of drivers suspected to be inebriated

Item	Yes, always (%)	Yes, sometimes (%)	No (%)
Taking of medical history (n = 47)	65.9	21.3	12.8
Asking about medication usage in the previous 24 h (n = 48)	54.1	31.3	14.6
Previous injuries, abnormalities and operations (n = 48)	50	33.3	16.7
Alcohol/drug consumption over the previous 24 h (n = 48)	81.2	12.5	6.3
Performing a full clinical examination (n = 48)	66.6	16.7	16.7
Completing the necessary documentation (n = 48)	93.8	4.2	2
Signing of documentation (n = 46)	97.8	2.2	0

Table 5: Undergraduate training and exposure to medico-legal documentation of drunk-driving cases

Item	Yes (%)	No (%)
Trained to complete documentation for drunk-driving cases at undergraduate level (n = 54)	11.1	88.9
Undergraduate exposure to drunk-driving cases (n = 55)	10.9	89.1

Table 6: Spearman’s correlation matrix showing relationship between undergraduate training and competency in practice by community service doctors

Item			a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
Spearman’s rho	a	Correlation coefficient	1.000	1.000**	0.269	.324*	0.262	0.334*	0.359*	0.181
		Sig. (2-tailed)	–	–	0.067	0.017	0.072	0.020	0.012	0.219
		n	54	54	47	54	48	48	48	48
	b	Correlation coefficient	1.000**	1.000	0.269	0.326*	0.262	0.334*	0.359*	0.181
		Sig. (2-tailed)	–	–	0.067	0.015	0.072	0.020	0.012	0.219
		n	54	55	47	55	48	48	48	48
	c	Correlation coefficient	0.269	0.269	1.000	0.879**	0.961**	0.617**	0.821**	0.738**
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.067	0.067	–	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
		n	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47
	d	Correlation coefficient	0.324*	0.326*	0.879**	1.000	0.853**	0.797**	0.875**	0.663**
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.017	0.015	0.000	–	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
		n	54	55	47	55	48	48	48	48
	e	Correlation coefficient	0.262	0.262	0.961**	0.853**	1.000	0.560**	0.822**	0.794**
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.072	0.072	0.000	0.000	–	0.000	0.000	0.000
		n	48	48	47	48	48	48	48	48
	f	Correlation coefficient	0.334*	0.334*	0.617**	0.797**	0.560**	1.000	0.819**	0.365*
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.020	0.020	0.000	0.000	0.000	–	0.000	0.011
		n	48	48	47	48	48	48	48	48
	g	Correlation coefficient	0.359*	0.359*	0.821**	0.875**	0.822**	0.819**	1.000	0.709**
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.012	0.012	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	–	0.000
		n	48	48	47	48	48	48	48	48
	h	Correlation coefficient	0.181	0.181	0.738**	0.663**	0.794**	0.365*	0.709**	1.000
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.219	0.219	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.011	0.000	–
		n	48	48	47	48	48	48	48	48

Notes: (a) Trained to complete documentation for drunk-driving cases at undergraduate level, (b) undergraduate exposure to drunk-driving cases, (c) taking of medical history, (d) obtaining consent for examination and collection of blood sample, (e) performing a full clinical examination, (f) asking about medication usage in the previous 24 h, (g) previous injuries, abnormalities and operations, (h) alcohol/drug consumption over the previous 24 h.

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).