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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Self-report assessments for elderly drivers are used in various countries for accessible, widespread self-monitoring of driving ability in the elderly population. Likewise, in South Korea, a paper-based Self-report Assessment for Elderly Driving Risk (SAFE-DR) has been developed. Here, we implemented the SAFE-DR through an Android application, which provides the advantages of accessibility, convenience, and provision of diverse information, and verified its reliability and validity.
OBJECTIVE: This study tested the validity and reliability of a mobile application-based version of a self-report assessment for elderly persons contextualized to the South Korean culture and compared it with a paper-based test.
METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, we recruited and interviewed 567 elderly drivers (≥65 years) between August 2018 and May 2019. For participants who provided consent, the application-based test was repeated after 2 weeks, and an additional paper-based test (Driver 65 Plus test) was also administered. Using the collected data, we analyzed the reliability and validity of the application-based SAFE-DR. The internal consistency of provisional items in each subdomain of the SAFE-DR and the test-retest stability were analyzed to examine reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine the validity of the subdomain configuration. To verify the appropriateness of using an application-based test for older drivers possibly unfamiliar with mobile technology, the correlation between the results of the SAFE-DR application and the paper-based offline test was also analyzed.
RESULTS: In the reliability analysis, Cronbach's α for all items was 0.975, and the correlation of each item with the overall score ranged from r=0.520 to r=0.823; four items with low correlations were removed from each of the subdomains. In the retest after 2 weeks, the mean correlation coefficient across all items was r=0.951, showing very high reliability. Exploratory factor analysis on 40 of the 44 items established five subdomains: On-road (8 items), Coping (16 items), Cognitive Functions (5 items), General Conditions (8 items), and Medical Health (3 items). A very strong negative correlation of -0.864 was observed between the total score for the application-based SAFE-DR and the paper-based Driver 65 Plus with decorrelation scales. The application-based test was found to be reliable.
CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we developed an application-based self-report assessment tool for elderly drivers and tested its reliability and validity. This application can help elderly individuals to easily assess their own driving skills. Therefore, this assessment can be used to educate drivers and be used for preventive screening for elderly drivers who want to renew their driver's licenses in South Korea. Lastly, the application can contribute to safe driving among elderly drivers.
Language: en |