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Citation
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Carr DB, Barco PP, Babulal GM, Stout SH, Johnson AM, Xiong C, Morris JC, Roe CM. PLoS One 2016; 11(12): e0167751. |
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Affiliation
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Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States of America. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between key functional impairments, co-morbid conditions and driving performance in a sample of cognitively normal older adults.
DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: The Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University at St. Louis. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals with normal cognition, 64.9 to 88.2 years old (N = 129), with a valid driver's license, who were currently driving at least once per week, and who had participated in longitudinal studies at the Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. MEASUREMENTS: Static visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, physical frailty measures, motor skills, total medical conditions, and the modified Washington University Road Test.
RESULTS: When controlling for age, race, gender, APOE, and education the total number of medical conditions was unassociated with both road test scores (pass vs. marginal + fail) and the total driver error count. There were marginal associations of our measure of physical frailty (p = 0.06) and contrast sensitivity score (p = 0.06) with total driving error count.
CONCLUSION: Future research that focuses on older adults and driving should consider adopting measures of physical frailty and contrast sensitivity, especially in samples that may have a propensity for disease impacting visual and/or physical function (e.g. osteoarthritis, Parkinson's, eye disorders, advanced age >80 years, etc.).
Language: en |