Why older people stop to drive? A cohort study of older patients admitted to a rehabilitation setting.
The aim of this study is to describe the predictive factors of driving cessation at 6-month follow-up in older patients discharged from a rehabilitation setting and evaluated by an occupational therapist in a multidisciplinary team. Of 95 patients, at 6-month 27.4% ceased to drive. The reasons for driving cessation were a patients' voluntary choice (42.3%) or a choice of their family (23.1%), and only in 34.6% of the patients the license was revoked by a medical commission. In a multivariate analysis greater functional impairment-measured with the Timed Up and Go test-(OR 12.60, CI 2.74-57.89; p < 0.01) was the only predictor of driving cessation. This study shows that the ability to walk safely and independently is a significant predictor of driving cessation. The simple assessment of this factor using the TUG might be an easy screening tool to prompt a second level evaluation to accurately identify unsafe driving.
['Pozzi|Christian|C|', 'Lucchi|Elena|E|', 'Lanzoni|Alessandro|A|', 'Gentile|Simona|S|', 'Morghen|Sara|S|', 'Trabucchi|Marco|M|', 'Bellelli|Giuseppe|G|', 'Morandi|Alessandro|A|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4848-2507']
D000063:Accidents, Traffic D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D000375:Aging D001334:Automobile Driving D017028:Caregivers D002755:Choice Behavior D003071:Cognition D015331:Cohort Studies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D015999:Multivariate Analysis
Driving Age Functional impairment Occupational therapy Older adults