Do Type 2 diabetes patients have declined driving performance during non-hypoglycemia? A preliminary simulated driving study

Abstract

Due to the prevalence of diabetes, research interests about its everyday consequences such as driving have grown. Previous studies have found hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) can seriously endanger driving safety. However, some recent indirect evidence suggests that diabetics’ driving performance can also be undermined in non-hypoglycemia conditions. By comparing healthy participants with type 2 diabetic patients in non-hypoglycemia conditions on their driving performance in a simulated driving task, this study sought to find such an effect. The results showed that participants with diabetes mellitus have a significantly longer brake reaction time and brake transfer time, and significantly shorter minimum time to collision than the healthy control group. These results indicate that diabetes may exert negative influences on key driving performance even during non-hypoglycemia. We further discussed who are more susceptible to such performance declination and the possible countermeasures.