<p class="first" id="d9019466e164">Toxoplasmosis is a prevalent infectious disease.
Although most people infected by
Toxoplasma gondii are asymptomatic, evidence has suggested that this disease might
affect some aspects of a host's behavior and associate with schizophrenia, suicide
attempt, changes in various aspects of personality, and poor neurocognitive performance.
These associations may play roles in increasing the risk of a number of incidents,
such as traffic accidents, among infected people. In this regard, this study aimed
to provide summary estimates for the available data on the potential risk of toxoplasmosis
for traffic accidents. To this end, using a number of search terms, i.e. toxoplasmosis,
Toxoplasma gondii, traffic accident, road accident, car accident, crash, and prevalence,
literature searches (up to October 1, 2017) were carried out via 6 databases. The
meta-analysis was conducted using the StatsDirect statistical software and a P-value
less than 0.05 was regarded as significant in all statistical analyses. Out of 1841
identified studies, 9 studies were finally considered eligible for carrying out this
systematic review. Reviewing results of these studies indicated that 5 out of 9 studies
reported a significant relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and traffic accidents.
Additionally, data related to gender showed significant differences between infected
and control men and women. Considering age, reviewing the results of these studies
revealed a significant difference between the infected people and the Toxoplasma-negative
subjects under 45 years of age. However, no significant difference was found between
the two groups aged 45 or older. Given these results, it can be concluded that Toxoplasma
gondii significantly increases the risk of having traffic accidents.
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