Exploring simulated driving performance among varsity male soccer players

Background: It is documented that male athletes display riskier behaviors while driving (as well as in life in general) than female athletes and nonathletes. However, the literature has reported that athletes show better driving ability than nonathletes. This paradox between behaviors and abilities motivated the present study to further understand the collision risk of varsity athletes. Objective: The current study estimates the performance differences between varsity male soccer players and male undergraduate nonathletes on (1) a driving task and (2) three perceptual–cognitive tasks (associated with collision risk prediction; i.e., Useful Field of View [UFOV] test). Methods: Thirty-five male undergraduate students (15 varsity soccer players, 20 undergraduate nonathletes) took part in this study. Driving performance was assessed during 14 min of urban commuting using a driving simulator. While completing the simulated driving task and UFOV test, the physiological responses were monitored using an electrocardiograph (ECG) to document heart rate variability (HRV). Results: Varsity soccer players showed more risky behaviors at the wheel compared to their nonathlete student peers. Varsity soccer players spent more time over the speed limit, committed more driving errors, and adopted fewer safe and legal behaviors. However, no difference was observed between both groups on driving skill variables (i.e., vehicle control, vehicle mobility, ecodriving). For subtests 1 and 2 of the UFOV (i.e., processing speed, divided attention), both groups performed identically (i.e., 17 ms). The nonathlete group tended to perform better on the selective attention task (i.e., subtest 3 of UFOV test; 63.2 ± 6.2 ms vs. 87.2 ± 10.7 ms, respectively; this difference was not significant, P = .76). Conclusion: Preventive driving measures should be enforced in this high-risk population to develop strategies for risk reduction in male team athletes.研究背景：已有研究证实，男性运动员在驾驶（以及日常生活其他方面）中的行为比女性运动员与非运动员更具风险性。但现有文献表明，运动员的驾驶能力优于非运动员。这种行为与能力之间的矛盾，促使本研究进一步探究校队运动员（varsity athletes）的碰撞风险。 研究目的：本研究旨在比较男子校足球队运动员与男性非运动员本科生在两项任务中的表现差异：(1) 驾驶任务；(2) 三项与碰撞风险预测相关的感知认知任务（即有用视野测试（Useful Field of View, UFOV））。 研究方法：本研究共纳入35名男性本科生，其中15名为男子校足球队运动员，20名为非运动员本科生。采用驾驶模拟器开展时长14分钟的城市通勤驾驶任务，以评估驾驶表现。在完成模拟驾驶任务与UFOV测试期间，通过心电图仪（electrocardiograph, ECG）监测受试者的生理反应，以记录心率变异性（heart rate variability, HRV）。 研究结果：与非运动员本科生同伴相比，校男子足球队运动员在驾驶时表现出更多风险行为：超速时长更长、驾驶失误更多，且合规安全的驾驶行为更少。但两组在驾驶技能相关变量（即车辆操控、车辆机动性、生态驾驶）上未观察到显著差异。在UFOV测试的子任务1与子任务2（即加工速度、分配性注意）中，两组表现完全一致（均为17毫秒）。非运动员组在选择性注意任务（即UFOV测试子任务3）中表现更优（分别为63.2±6.2毫秒与87.2±10.7毫秒），但该差异无统计学意义（P=0.76）。 研究结论：针对该高风险人群应推行预防性驾驶干预措施，以制定男性团体运动员的驾驶风险降低策略。