Evidence of risky driving in Korean older adults: A longitudinal cohort.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the risk factors for dangerous driving between older adults with normal cognition and those with cognitive impairment. The driving risk questionnaire (DRQ) that was applied to a community-dwelling older adult cohort and 2years of accident/violation records from the National Police Agency were analyzed. We conducted regression analyses with the presence or absence of risky driving based on records (accidents+violations) 2years before and after evaluation as a dependent variable and dichotomized scores of each risky driving factor as independent variables. According to four identified factors-crash history, safety concern, reduced mileage, and aggressive driving-significant associations were found between risky driving over the past 2years and crash history and for aggressive driving in the normal cognition group. In the cognitive impairment group, only crash history was significantly associated, although safety concerns showed a trend toward significance. In this study, it was suggested that the factors of DRQ have a significant association with actual risky driving. Our results are expected to contribute to establishing the evidence for evaluating and predicting risky driving and advising whether to continue driving in clinics.