Reporting of unknown drug test results in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and associated factors, 2000–2020

Abstract

Objective

To investigate how the percentage of unknown drug test results among drug-tested drivers in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) has trended over the past 2 decades and to evaluate factors that may affect a drug-tested driver having unknown test results in FARS.

Methods

The percentage of unknown test results among fatally injured drivers who were tested for drugs in FARS was assessed from 2000 to 2020. Trends in annual FARS drug testing data were compared with those for alcohol testing. In addition, the percentage of unknown drug test results was regressed on several factors that have been shown to be associated with higher risk of drug-involved crash fatalities.

Results

The percentage of unknown drug test results in FARS has decreased drastically over the past 2 decades, and the percentage of unknown drug test data gradually matched that of alcohol data over the study period. Multiple factors such as the fatally injured drivers’ age and whether the crash occurred in an urban/rural area were found to be statistically significantly associated with the percentage of unknown drug test results in FARS.

Conclusions

The percentage of unknown test results in FARS drug data is decreasing, and the significant associated factors found in this study may help identify additional strategies for reducing unknown drug test results. Future research should focus on continued improvement of FARS data, given the importance of FARS in understanding fatal crashes and informing strategies for prevention of crash-related injuries and fatalities in the United States.

Keywords:

• Drugged driving
• drug testing
• fatality analysis reporting system
• FARS
• FARS drug data
• unknown drug test results

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under grant number 5R01HD074594.