Assessment of Driving-Related Skills for Older Drivers [Traffic Tech]

NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Researchhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15258862010PDFBriefUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited StatesAged driversCognitive impairmentCorrelation analysisDriving testsEvaluation and assessmentHandbooksMotor skillsVisionNumber 389Relating behind-the-wheel driving performance to performance on office-based screening tools is challenging. It is important to use tools that are predictive of poor driving performance (sensitivity), but also to find tools that do not have high proportions of false positives (specificity). This project explored both. Driving equates to independence for many older drivers, but determining whether a driver is safe is a challenge. A family often turns to a physician to make a determination regarding a loved one\u2019s driving fitness, but historically, those physicians have had no evidence-based tools to help them decide whether or not people are at risk. In 2003, NHTSA and the American Medical Association (AMA) released the Physician\u2019s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers (www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/olddrive/physician_guide/ PhysiciansGuide.pdf) to help physicians and their patients explore driving through the lens of a health-based model. The guide has an easy-to-administer set of screening tools called Assessment of Driving-Related Skills, or ADReS. The ADReS explores visual function, physical and motor function, and cognitive function. It offers physicians guidance on the actions they should take for their patients when presented with \u201cred flags.\u201d129