Predicting Driving Performance in Older Adults with the Useful Field of View Test: A Meta-Analysis

This investigation examines the Useful Field of View (specifically theUFOV® test), as a predictor of objective measures of driving performance.PubMed and PsycInfo databases were searched to retrieve eight independentstudies reporting bivariate relationships between the UFOV® test and drivingmeasures (driving simulator performance, state-recorded crashes, and on-roaddriving). Cumulative meta-analysis techniques were used to examine thepredictive utility of the test, to determine whether the effect size was stable acrossstudies, and to assess whether a sufficient number of studies have been conductedto conclude that the test is an effective predictor of driving competence. Resultsshowed that the study samples could have been drawn from the same population.The weighted mean effect size across all studies revealed a large effect, Cohen’sd=0.945, with poorer UFOV® test performance associated with negative drivingoutcomes. This relationship was robust across multiple indices of drivingperformance and several research laboratories. A concrete measure of sufficiencyrevealed that an additional 513 studies averaging a null result must be conductedto bring the p-value for the cumulative effect size to greater than .05. Thisconvergence of evidence across different points in time and different researchteams confirms the importance of the UFOV® assessment as a valid and reliableindex of driving performance and safety. Corroborating this finding, a recent largefield study in Maryland has further established the UFOV® test as a usefulscreening instrument to identify at-risk older drivers. Taken together, thesefindings could have far-reaching implications for public policy