title: Medical conditions associated with driving cessation in community-dwelling, ambulatory elders.
abstract: The decision to stop driving leads to severe contraction of independence, and most localities do not curtail driving privileges in impaired elders. In a population of community-based, ambulatory individuals 70-96 years old, annual medical screening showed that 276 of 1,656 (16.7 +/- 1.8%) who reported driving regularly in the past do not currently drive. The cessation of driving behavior was examined in terms of specific medical conditions occurring within the past 5 years. Retired drivers were disproportionately female, and driving cessation risk rose with age. Age-sex-adjusted logistic regression found that six conditions explained about 50 percent of the decisions to stop driving: macular degeneration; retinal hemorrhage; any deficit in Activities of Daily Living; Parkinson's disease; stroke-related residual paralysis or weakness; and syncope. Strikingly, only 1.8 percent of those who stopped driving had ever had a license revoked; 58.7 percent reported voluntarily stopping; 31.9 percent gave health or medical reasons. Clearly, the decision to cede driving privileges is complex and not dependent solely on medical problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Hale
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001334:Automobile Driving; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors