Physician and Family Discussions about Driving Safety: Findings from the LongROAD Study

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Am Board Fam Med
• Personal Author:
  Betz, Marian E. ; Villavicencio, Leon ; Kandasamy, Deepika ; Kelley-Baker, Tara ; Kim, Woon ; DiGuiseppi, Carolyn ; Mielenz, Thelma J. ; Eby, David W. ; Molnar, Lisa J. ; Hill, Linda ; Strogatz, David ; Carr, David B. ; Li, Guohua
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Older adult drivers may experience decreases in driving safety with age or health status change. Discussing driving safety may help them plan for driving restriction and eventual cessation. Here, we sought to examine conversations between older adults and their family members and physicians.
  
  Methods:
  
  In this multi-site cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the AAA Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (AAA LongROAD) cohort study, we measured the prevalence and characteristics of family and physician driving discussions. We examined associations between having driving discussions and participant characteristics using multivariate logistic regression.
  
  Results:
  
  Of 2990 current drivers aged 65–79 years (53% female, 85.5% White), only 14.2% reported discussing driving safety with family and 5.5% had discussions with physicians. Men (adjusted OR: 1.32, 95%CI 1.05–1.66) and those with Master’s degrees or higher (adjusted OR: 1.65, 95%CI, 1.27–2.13) more often had family discussions. Those with at least a Master’s degree were also more likely to speak with their physician (adjusted OR: 1.77, 95%CI 1.17–2.68).
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Few older adults had driving safety conversations with their family or physicians. Practical and effective interventions are needed to engage family and physicians in assisting older adults with risk assessment and driving cessation planning to maintain mobility and well-being.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Article Communication Driving Cessation Driving Safety Family Healthcare Provider Older Drivers
• Source:
  J Am Board Fam Med. 32(4):607-613
• Pubmed ID:
  31300582
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6948152
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K23 AG043123/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States ; R49 CE002096/CE/NCIPC CDC HHS/United States ; R49CE002096/ACL/ACL HHS/United States
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:37eed58ae3ceba846f7f7eb239387c01ee82b8af4d03d494b0b520fbd95cb4c3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/84112/cdc_84112_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 293.18 KB ]