The Medical Referral Process and Motor-Vehicle Crash Risk for Drivers with Dementia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Butcher B ; Davis J ; Hamann C ; Peek-Asa, Corinne
• Description:
  Cognitive and physical impairment can occur with dementia and reduce driving ability. In the United States, individual states have procedures to refer and evaluate drivers who may no longer be fit to drive. The license review process is not well understood for drivers with dementia. This study uses comprehensive data from the Iowa Department of Transportation to compare the referral process for drivers with and without dementia from January 2014 through November 2019. The likelihood of failing an evaluation test was compared between drivers with and without dementia using logistic regression. The risk of motor-vehicle crash after referral for review of driving ability was compared using a Cox proportional hazard model. Analysis controlled for the age and sex of the referred driver. Drivers with dementia performed worse on all tests evaluated except the visual screening test. After the referral process, the risk of crash was similar between those with and without dementia. Drivers with dementia were denied their license more frequently than referred drivers without dementia. However, drivers with dementia who successfully kept their license as a result of the license review process were not at an increased risk of crash compared to other referred drivers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Aging Automobiles Nervous System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Transportation
• Keywords:
  Accidents Alzheimer's Disease Author Keywords: Driver Licensing Cognitive Function Dementia Driver Evaluation Drivers Fitness To Drive Motor Vehicle Collision Motor Vehicles Risk Factors

  More +
• ISSN:
  2308-3417
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  91
• Volume:
  5
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062530
• Citation:
  Geriatrics 2020 Dec; 5(4):91
• Contact Point Address:
  Jonathan Davis, University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center, 2190 Westlawn, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
• Email:
  jonathan-a-davis@uiowa.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Geriatrics
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a11c18ed92f91dfba999e0defb1d5c67ed7982ff59272966b2df5b2fd136224377506039c1573ca5ca482a1bd1bfd6d4e3165f3f52e9fb36c799a341e7619eb6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225760/cdc_225760_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 222.05 KB ]