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Conference Proceeding

Cognitive Factors and Gender Related to Self-reported Difficulties in Older Drivers

Authors
  • Inês S Ferreira (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
  • Mohd Faudzi Mohd Marmeleira (University of Évora, Portugal)
  • Mário B Godinho (Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal)
  • Mário R Simões (University of Coimbra, Portugal)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the association between selfreported driving difficulties among older drivers and scores on specific cognitive tests. A cross-sectional study of 38 car drivers (22 men and 16 women), aged 61- 81 was carried out. The participants were volunteers recruited from two senior universities and a university health program for older drivers, in the area of Lisbon, Portugal. A battery of visual, psychomotor and cognitive measures was undertaken with a questionnaire about driving difficulties in a sample of healthy older adults. Difficulties in driving were the dependent variable in this study, defined as any reported difficulty in ≥ 4 driving situations. After a multivariate analysis, the independent factors significantly associated with driving difficulties were divided attention subtest of UFOV® (p=0.013), number of trials with success in the Tower of London (p=0.015) and gender (p=0.021). The drivers that reported difficulties in ≥ 4 driving situations made significantly less trials with success in the Tower of London test, had lower performances in divided attention between central and peripheral targets, and were more frequently females. Results suggest that planning ability, divided visual attention and gender are three important factors to be considered in the analysis of driving difficulties. However, further investigation with additional cognitive tests and driving measures (staterecorded crashes, driving simulator and on-road driving performance) could be developed in order to understand the factors related to driving difficulties in healthy older drivers.

How to Cite:

Ferreira, I. & Marmeleira, M. & Godinho, M. & Simões, M., (2007) “Cognitive Factors and Gender Related to Self-reported Difficulties in Older Drivers”, Driving Assessment Conference 4(2007), 511-518. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/drivingassessment.1285

Rights: Copyright © 2007 the author(s)

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Published on
12 Jul 2007
Peer Reviewed
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