IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12806-d934916.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Driving-Related Cognitive Abilities: Evaluating Change over Time in a Sample of Older Adults Undergoing an Assessment Regarding Fitness to Drive

Author

Listed:
  • Stefania Balzarotti

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Eleonora Pagani

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Ilaria Telazzi

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Martina Gnerre

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Federica Biassoni

    (Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

Advancing age can bring a decline in many driving-related cognitive abilities. For this reason, public safety concern has raised about older adults’ driving performance, and many countries have adopted screening polices to assess older drivers’ fitness to drive. As a result of such assessments, authorities may impose behavioral restrictions to driving. The present study examines whether driving-related cognitive abilities change over time and compares drivers either restricted or not by licensing authorities after the first assessment. The data were derived from a database provided by a service of psychodiagnostic assessment of fitness to drive. This database contained data of people referred for cognitive assessment in order to renew their driving license over the period of 2016 to 2022. The sample included 58 cognitively healthy old drivers (mean age = 82.79, SD = 6.13; 97% men) with a follow-up examination (T2) after a period ranging from one to four years (M = 1.59, SD = 0.72) since the first assessment. Cognitive assessments were conducted using the standard test battery from the Vienna Test System (VTS8; ©Schuhfried GmbH, Mödling, Austria). Decision time variability, motor time, reaction time under stress, and obtaining an overview did not show significant changes between T1 and T2, whereas selective attention and inductive reasoning significantly decreased over time in both groups. Improvements in processing speed consistent with practice effects emerged at T2. Restricted drivers ( n = 41) maintained significantly worse performances than unrestricted drivers ( n = 17) in the follow-up assessment. Chronological age was associated with higher reaction time under stress, while education showed a buffering role against a decrease in perceptual speed. Overall, although older drivers’ driving-related cognitive abilities remain relatively stable over the short-term, the decline in some cognitive functions deserves reevaluation and monitoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefania Balzarotti & Eleonora Pagani & Ilaria Telazzi & Martina Gnerre & Federica Biassoni, 2022. "Driving-Related Cognitive Abilities: Evaluating Change over Time in a Sample of Older Adults Undergoing an Assessment Regarding Fitness to Drive," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12806-:d:934916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12806/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12806/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asbridge, Mark & Desapriya, Ediriweera & Ogilvie, Rachel & Cartwright, Jenny & Mehrnoush, Vahid & Ishikawa, Takuro & Nuwan Weerasinghe, Dinesh, 2017. "The impact of restricted driver’s licenses on crash risk for older drivers: A systematic review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 137-145.
    2. Freeman, E.E. & Gange, S.J. & Muñoz, B. & West, S.K., 2006. "Driving status and risk of entry into long-term care in older adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(7), pages 1254-1259.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar & Truelove, Verity & Watson, Barry & Hinton, Jane A., 2019. "The impact of road advertising signs on driver behaviour and implications for road safety: A critical systematic review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 85-98.
    2. Spinney, Jamie E.L. & Newbold, K. Bruce & Scott, Darren M. & Vrkljan, Brenda & Grenier, Amanda, 2020. "The impact of driving status on out-of-home and social activity engagement among older Canadians," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Asbridge, Mark & Desapriya, Ediriweera & Ogilvie, Rachel & Cartwright, Jenny & Mehrnoush, Vahid & Ishikawa, Takuro & Nuwan Weerasinghe, Dinesh, 2017. "The impact of restricted driver’s licenses on crash risk for older drivers: A systematic review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 137-145.
    4. Masao Ichikawa & Shinji Nakahara & Hideto Takahashi, 2016. "The impact of transportation alternatives on the decision to cease driving by older adults in Japan," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 443-453, May.
    5. Hansen, Stine & Newbold, K. Bruce & Scott, Darren M. & Vrkljan, Brenda & Grenier, Amanda, 2020. "To drive or not to drive: Driving cessation amongst older adults in rural and small towns in Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12806-:d:934916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.