Acceptability and concurrent validity of measures to predict older driver involvement in motor vehicle crashes: an Emergency Department pilot case-control study.
CanDRIVE(1): a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aging funded New Emerging Team, Elisabeth-Bruyère Research Institute, 43 Bruyère Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 5C8. fmolnar@ottawahospital.on.ca
Older drivers have one of the highest motor vehicle crash (MVC) rates per kilometer driven, largely due to the functional effects of the accumulation, and progression of age-associated medical conditions that eventually impact on fitness-to-drive. Consequently, physicians in many jurisdictions are legally mandated to report to licensing authorities patients who are judged to be medically at risk for MVCs. Unfortunately, physicians lack evidence-based tools to assess the fitness-to-drive of their older patients. This paper reports on a pilot study that examines the acceptability and association with MVC of components of a comprehensive clinical assessment battery.
To evaluate the acceptability to participants of components of a comprehensive assessment battery, and to explore potential predictors of MVC that can be employed in front-line clinical settings.
Case-control study of 10 older drivers presenting to a tertiary care hospital emergency department after involvement in an MVC and 20 age-matched controls.
The measures tested were generally found to be acceptable to participants. Positive associations (p