[Driving and health: the difficult balance between fitness assesment, risk prevention and quality of life. A compromise for driver medical assessment centers.] / Conducción de vehículos y estado de salud: el dificil equilibrio entre valoración de aptitudes, prevención del riesgo y calidad de vida. Un compromiso para los centros de reconocimiento de conductores.

Injuries associated with road crashes are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in our country. The causes are varied and involve the person driving, the vehicle and other external factors such as public roads and legislation. However most important injuries can be prevented. A useful tool for this purpose is the Psychological Medical Examination Protocol for Drivers' Health Assessment Centers, which has been updated by a working group coordinated by the General Directorate of Traffic and the General Directorate of Public Health with the participation of experts from the Spanish Society of Traffic Medicine and the collaboration of institutions related to road risk assessment. The new version of the protocol highlights both the assessment of road risk associated with health conditions, and as a novelty, the importance of road safety professional's advice to inform and train citizens on how to prevent risks based on their health situation or health condition. It highlights the need for the Drivers' Health Assessment Centers intervention to focus on prevention, being necessary to accompany psychophysical assessment with road safety advice that allows the driver to be aware of the road safety benefits of the prescribed measures. The objective of this article was to make known not only the psychological medical examination protocol, but also the approach that is given to the preventive intervention of road accidents from the health field.

Las lesiones asociadas a siniestros viales son una de las principales causas de morbimortalidad en nuestro país. Las causas son variadas e implican a la persona que conduce, al vehículo y a otros factores externos como las vías públicas y la legislación. Pero lo fundamental es que se pueden prevenir. Una herramienta de utilidad para ello es el Protocolo de exploración médico psicológica para centros de reconocimiento de conductores, el cual ha sido actualizado por un grupo de trabajo coordinado por la Dirección General de Tráfico y la Dirección General de Salud Pública, con la participación de personas expertas de la Sociedad Española de Medicina del Tráfico y la colaboración de instituciones relacionadas con la evaluación del riesgo vial. En él se destaca no solo la valoración del riesgo vial asociado a las condiciones de salud sino también, y como novedad, la importancia del consejo sanitario para informar y formar a la ciudadanía sobre cómo prevenir riesgos en función de su situación o condición de salud. Destaca la necesidad de que la intervención de los centros de reconocimiento de conductores se dirija hacia la prevención, siendo necesario acompañar la valoración psicofísica de un consejo sanitario vial que permita concienciar a la persona conductora acerca del beneficio para la salud vial de las medidas prescritas. El objetivo de este trabajo fue dar a conocer no solo el protocolo de exploración médico psicológica, sino el enfoque que se le da a la intervención preventiva de la siniestralidad vial desde el ámbito sanitario.

Sleep Apnea and Driving. Recommendations for Interpreting Spanish Regulations for Drivers. / Apnea del sueño y conducción de vehículos. Recomendaciones para la interpretación del nuevo Reglamento General de Conductores en España.

Road traffic accidents are one of the main causes of death worldwide and are clearly associated with sleepiness. Individuals with undiagnosed sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) are among the population with a high risk of experiencing sleepiness at the wheel and, consequently, road traffic accidents. Treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been shown to reduce the risk of accidents among drivers with SAHS. For this reason, the European Union has included this disease in the psychological and physical criteria for obtaining or renewing a driving license. To comply with this European Directive, Spain has updated its driving laws accordingly. To facilitate the implementation of the new regulations, a group of experts from various medical societies and institutions has prepared these guidelines that include questionnaires to screen for SAHS, diagnostic and therapeutic criteria, and physician's report templates.