Elderly drivers involved in road crashes: a profile.
The ability of elderly citizens to drive safely has been the subject of ongoing debate. To identify the type of elderly driver who becomes involved in an injury-producing road crash, we profiled all drivers over 39 years of age admitted to our Level I Trauma Center over a 1-year period. Data were prospectively collected and drivers age 40-59 years were compared with those over 60 years. Eighty-four drivers age > or = 60 and 130 drivers age 40-59 were studied. Of the 84 elderly drivers, 67 were deemed at fault. Twenty-four of those crashes were due to driving errors, 12 due to syncopes, and in 20 no crash cause was determined. Fifty-three of the 67 at fault drivers had significant underlying medical problems, compared to 9 of 17 deemed not at fault. Only four were legally intoxicated. Of the 130 drivers in the comparison group, only 19 had significant underlying medical problems; in three syncope was suspected; 18 were legally intoxicated. We conclude from our data that underlying medical disorders occur frequently in elderly drivers and may contribute to their incidence of road crashes.
Rehm
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Department of Surgery, Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, UMDN/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, USA.
Ross
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D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology; D001334:Automobile Driving; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012449:Safety; D012890:Sleep; D013575:Syncope / Q000503:physiopathology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology