title: Older drivers and rapid deceleration events: Salisbury Eye Evaluation Driving Study.
abstract: Drivers who rapidly change speed while driving may be more at risk for a crash. We sought to determine the relationship of demographic, vision, and cognitive variables with episodes of rapid decelerations during five days of normal driving in a cohort of older drivers. In the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Driving Study, 1425 older drivers aged 67-87 were recruited from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration's rolls for licensees in Salisbury, Maryland. Participants had several measures of vision tested: visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual fields, and the attentional visual field. Participants were also tested for various domains of cognitive function including executive function, attention, psychomotor speed, and visual search. A custom created driving monitoring system (DMS) was used to capture rapid deceleration events (RDEs), defined as at least 350 milli-g deceleration, during a five day period of monitoring. The rate of RDE per mile driven was modeled using a negative binomial regression model with an offset of the logarithm of the number of miles driven. We found that 30% of older drivers had one or more RDE during a five day period, and of those, about 1/3 had four or more. The rate of RDE per mile driven was highest for those drivers driving<59 miles during the 5-day period of monitoring. However, older drivers with RDE's were more likely to have better scores in cognitive tests of psychomotor speed and visual search, and have faster brake reaction time. Further, greater average speed and maximum speed per driving segment was protective against RDE events. In conclusion, contrary to our hypothesis, older drivers who perform rapid decelerations tend to be more "fit", with better measures of vision and cognition compared to those who do not have events of rapid deceleration.
authors: The George Institute for Global Health, The University of Sydney, Level 7, 341 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. lkeay@georgeinstitute.org.au
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Keay
authors: Beatriz
authors: B
authors: Munoz
authors: Donald D
authors: DD
authors: Duncan
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Hahn
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: Baldwin
authors: Kathleen A
authors: KA
authors: Turano
authors: Cynthia A
authors: CA
authors: Munro
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Bandeen-Roche
authors: Sheila K
authors: SK
authors: West
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D003654:Deceleration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology