Elderly Drivers Research Articles

FIT2DRIVE: DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A PREDICTOR OF DRIVING CAPACITY OF OLDER ADULTS WITH COGNITIVE CONCERNS

Abstract The decision to stop driving has been reported by caregivers of persons with dementia as one of the most difficult ones they confront. Additionally, primary care providers to whom they often turn for guidance report being unprepared to provide them with evidence-based information. Our aim was to develop and test a predictive model employing 2 or 3 brief, easily administered cognitive tests to predict the individual’s likelihood of passing an on road driving test. Participants were licensed drivers recruited from our Memory Center’s driver evaluation program and the community to obtain a broadly representative sample of older drivers. A total of 357 drivers age 60 to 97 (mean 81) completed an established on-road driving test and battery of short cognitive tests. Two-thirds of the sample were white, non-Hispanic, one third were Black, African American, 59% male and 41% female, mean MMSE score of 24. Employing Receiver Operating curve analysis, the best set of predictors included participant age, MMSE utilizing world spelled backwards (a better predictor than serial 7’s), Trails B time in seconds and participant age yielding 95% AUC (area under the curve). The model was invariant across gender, education and ethnic group. A website with an interactive calculator in which this data is entered and likelihood of passing an on-road driving test prediction is presently under construction and will be available first to providers and later to individuals with a concern about continuing capacity to drive. Funded by Florida Department of Health Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative.

PREVALENCE AND USE OF ADVANCED DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS IN THE OLDER DRIVER POPULATION

Abstract Research on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in the older driver population has suggested the potential for ADAS to improve safety and driving comfort by helping aging drivers overcome functional declines commonly experienced in later-life. However, attaining anticipated ADAS benefits is dependent upon drivers’ awareness, understanding, and use of ADAS in their own vehicles. Questionnaire data from 2,374 older drivers enrolled in the AAA LongROAD study were analyzed to investigate changes in the prevalence and use of 15 ADAS and how participants learned to use these technologies. From baseline to Year 3, the prevalence of each ADAS significantly increased, with the greatest percentage point increase being for backup/parking assist technology (from 41.5% to 58.8%). The prevalence of one or more ADAS in participants’ vehicles increased from 59.0% to 72.0%, and the average number of ADAS per vehicle increased from 2.0 to 3.3. At both baseline and Year 3, approximately one-third of participants reported always using the ADAS available in their vehicle, but nearly one-quarter reported never using their ADAS. The largest proportion of participants at both baseline and Year 3 reported learning to use ADAS by figuring it out by themselves (45.5% and 50.8%, respectively), yet approximately 12.0% of participants at both time points reported never learning to use ADAS. To achieve the expected benefits of ADAS for older drivers, research is needed to better understand why ADAS are not being use more frequently when available, and to develop acceptable and accessible programs for training older adults to use ADAS.

The Impact of Aging Drivers and Vehicles on the Injury Severity of Crash Victims.

Against a general trend of increasing driver longevity, the injuries suffered by vehicle occupants in Spanish road traffic crashes are analyzed by the level of severity of their bodily injuries (BI). Generalized linear mixed models are applied to model the proportion of non-serious, serious, and fatal victims. The dependence between vehicles involved in the same crash is captured by including random effects. The effect of driver age and vehicle age and their interaction on the proportion of injured victims is analyzed. We find a nonlinear relationship between driver age and BI severity, with young and older drivers constituting the riskiest groups. In contrast, the expected severity of the crash increases linearly up to a vehicle age of 18 and remains constant thereafter at the highest level of BI severity. No interaction between the two variables is found. These results are especially relevant for countries such as Spain with increasing driver longevity and an aging car fleet.

Governance diversity: Its impact on strategic variation and results

AbstractThis paper investigates the impact of four drivers of Governance diversity, namely gender, tenure, age, and educational attainment, on strategic direction and variation. It then incorporates corporate financial results as a moderating variable, testing how it impacts the links between board diversity and strategic variation. Strategic variation or change is assessed based on measuring deviation from past strategies. Our sample consists of 5011 firm‐year observations from 930 firms in the United States between 2010 and 2018. The findings indicate that the four drivers of Governance diversity show a positive relationship between the corporate board of directors and strategic variation/change. However, the strength of the effect depends on overall firm results/performance.

A fundamental study on the relationship between cognitive function and psychological load while driving in older adult drivers.

Although many media outlets have sounded the alarm about dangerous driving by elderly drivers, serious accidents do not occur on a daily basis, and the dangerous events of daily driving have not been clarified. However, serious accidents do not occur on a daily basis, and the risk events of daily driving have not been clarified. Also, the relationship between cognitive function and drivers' cognitive function has not been clarified. In addition, cognitive function fluctuates from day to day, and it is difficult to obtain an accurate picture of cognitive function from a one-time test. However, in Japan, the system currently determines whether a driver's license is revoked or not depending on the results of the test, and it is difficult to say that we can properly diagnose the driving of elderly drivers. In this study, we observed the heart rate during driving and examined the changes in psychological load that occur during driving. I observed 80 subjects' driving data. As a result, it was found that the heart rate of drivers with cognitive decline increased when they were approached by a trivial voice or an unexpected obstacle, followed by a rapid decrease in the heart rate and a state of excessive relaxation.In addition, when they were in the state of excessive relaxation, they slowed down their obstacle avoidance behavior and forgot to activate the blinker. Therefore, it is necessary to find a way to equalize the tension during driving in order to support the safe driving of elderly drivers.

Examining Coroners’ Recommendations for Health and Safety Management of Ageing Heavy Vehicle Drivers: A STAMP Analysis

Recommendations were analysed from coronial cases involving ageing heavy vehicle drivers (≥55 years) and mapped onto a Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) control structure to identify the controllers and control actions influential in the heavy vehicle industry with regard to health and safety. A National Coronial Information System (NCIS) database search revealed 38 coroners' recommendations arising from 14 unique cases of ageing driver involvement. There were no ageing themes identified in the analysis of coroners' findings and recommendations. An examination of the STAMP control structure identified that the highest concentration of recommendations was in the level of regulation, the second most senior level of control, although safety constraints were advised for all five levels of the system. In regard to identifying themes of control flaws in the recommendations, the study found that "unidentified hazards" were the most common type of safety failure in the analysis of cases of ageing drivers, concentrated at the regulatory level, which indicates that additional risk identification methods by upper levels of control are needed. Therefore, a recommendation arising from the current study is that additional controls in safety intervention are necessitated in the upper and middle levels of the road freight transportation system; in particular, formalising health and safety education for organisational managers, with a focus on identifying ageing issues, would fill a gap in the system for managing ageing heavy vehicle drivers. In conclusion, this study has found that improving the health and safety of ageing heavy vehicle drivers necessitates additional safety constraints with a focus on formalised safety education for organisational managers, in addition to a means to detect emerging and unforeseen hazards in the road freight transportation industry.

Drivers’ gap acceptance during parking maneuvers as a basis for initiating driving actions in automated vehicles

As a social system, traffic requires the coordination between different involved road users, particularly in shared spaces (e.g., parking areas) with fewer statutory regulations and hence more ambiguous encounters. By anticipating the development of driving scenes and adapting own driving actions, drivers maintain individually varying safety margins, such as accepted time gaps, to surrounding traffic participants. However, drivers’ gap acceptance (GA) was shown to be influenced by situational factors and driver characteristics. In order to apply expectable interactions in mixed traffic, involving manual and automated vehicles (AVs), intuitive gaps in traffic flow need to be selected by AVs when initiating parking actions. Derived time gaps of manual drivers could provide a basic orientation for intuitive driving functions in AVs. Thus, the current experimental study assessed manual drivers’ GA in a parking area scenario. Real-world video material was used to investigate the effects of interaction partners, their encountering speeds and drivers’ age and sensation seeking on GA. In the study, 42 participants (including two age groups: 18–30 years vs ≥ 45 years) indicated their GA when initiating a left-turn parking maneuver in front of approaching vehicles. The study examined three interaction partners (motorcycle, passenger car, truck), each approaching at six different speed levels (10–35 km/h). The results revealed that selected time gaps increased as vehicle size increased, with the largest GA for the truck and the smallest gaps for the motorcycle. Moreover, time gaps decreased at higher approaching speeds of the interaction partners. In addition, older participants selected more conservative gaps and participants with higher sensation seeking scores accepted lower time gaps to initiate a parking maneuver. The results of the current study revealed that there is no one single time gap that is always considered as appropriate to initiate parking actions. For intuitive interaction capabilities in AVs and to support smooth encounters in mixed traffic, the speed of the approaching interaction partners should be considered as an essential situational factor when initiating parking maneuvers. To consider individual driving style preferences (e.g., due to driver age) and support user acceptance, selectable driving style profiles should be available in AVs as a form of customization.

Adverse driving behaviors increase over time as a function of preclinical Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.

We investigated the relationship between preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers and adverse driving behaviors in a longitudinal analysis of naturalistic driving data. Naturalistic driving data collected using in-vehicle dataloggers from 137 community-dwelling older adults (65+) were used to model driving behavior over time. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers were used to identify individuals with preclinical AD. Additionally, hippocampal volume and cognitive biomarkers for AD were investigated in exploratory analyses. CSF biomarkers predicted the longitudinal trajectory of the incidence of adverse driving behavior. Abnormal amyloid beta (Aβ42 /Aβ40 ) ratio was associated with an increase in adverse driving behaviors over time compared to ratios in the normal/lower range. Preclinical AD is associated with increased adverse driving behavior over time that cannot be explained by cognitive changes. Driving behavior as a functional, neurobehavioral marker may serve as an early detection for decline in preclinical AD. Screening may also help prolong safe driving as older drivers age.

Highly Acidic Conditions Drastically Alter the Chemical Composition and Absorption Coefficient of α-Pinene Secondary Organic Aerosol.

Secondary organic aerosols (SOA), formed through the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), can reside in the atmosphere for many days. The formation of SOA takes place rapidly within hours after VOC emissions, but SOA can undergo much slower physical and chemical processes throughout their lifetime in the atmosphere. The acidity of atmospheric aerosols spans a wide range, with the most acidic particles having negative pH values, which can promote acid-catalyzed reactions. The goal of this work is to elucidate poorly understood mechanisms and rates of acid-catalyzed aging of mixtures of representative SOA compounds. SOA were generated by the ozonolysis of α-pinene in a continuous flow reactor and then collected using a foil substrate. SOA samples were extracted and aged by exposure to varying concentrations of aqueous H2SO4 for 1-2 days. Chemical analysis of fresh and aged samples was conducted using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array spectrophotomety and high-resolution mass spectrometry. In addition, UV-vis spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectrophotometry were used to examine the changes in optical properties before and after aging. We observed that SOA that aged in moderately acidic conditions (pH from 0 to 4) experienced small changes in composition, while SOA that aged in a highly acidic environment (pH from -1 to 0) experienced more dramatic changes in composition, including the formation of compounds containing sulfur. Additionally, at highly acidic conditions, light-absorbing and fluorescent compounds appeared, but their identities could not be ascertained due to their small relative abundance. This study shows that acidity is a major driver of SOA aging, resulting in a large change in the chemical composition and optical properties of aerosols in regions where high concentrations of H2SO4 persist, such as upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.

Heavy vehicle crashes in Addis Ababa: Relationship between contributing factors and severity of outcomes

Random parameter logit regression is used to analyze police-reported data on 8,253 heavy vehicle-related crashes in Addis Ababa between July 2014 and June 2017. The analysis shows that fatal crashes are more likely to occur during the day and on weekdays, particularly when the circulation of trucks is high. It also shows the disproportionately high involvement of young drivers in heavy vehicle crashes in the city. However, the likelihood of crashes resulting in fatalities and serious injuries increases slightly compared to those resulting only in property damage as the age of drivers increases. Low levels of drivers' education, the fact that drivers are often not the owners of vehicles, ownership of vehicles by companies and government organizations, and inappropriate road medians' inappropriate design are also significant contributors to fatal crashes. Curbing deaths and injuries from heavy vehicle crashes in Addis Ababa requires strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations, particularly speed limits; reforms in driver's training and certification; improved safety culture of vehicle owners and design of road infrastructure. Ethiopia's national road safety strategy launched in July 2022 addresses these issues. Hence the government is taking steps in the right direction.

Assessing and Improving Fitness to Drive in the Elderly People: A Scoping Review of Policies and Guidelines.

This study has been conducted to analyze the processes, models, and policies to assess fitness to drive and improving driving in the elderly in the world. The Arkesy and O'Malley frameworks were employed. Articles with at least one aspect of driving eligibility in the elderly were included. Expected data were collected using appropriate keywords from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, IranDoc, SID, and MagIran. Data were analyzed using the Content Analysis method. Out of 675 records, 24 papers and reports were included in the study that all of them were High-Income Countries (HICs). Among the studies that referred to the baseline age, the highest frequency was 70 yr old (4 studies). Vision assessment was the main item to judge driving fitness (mentioned in 75% of the studies). The in-person (5 studies) was the most common method of renewal. General practitioners were the principal performers to measure driving fitness (7 studies). Thirteen studies referred to the road tests as part of the driver's license renewal process. In most all reports and papers, there were policies on empowering the elderly driver, including providing safe driving tips, optional driving skills tests, holding retraining courses, etc. The most frequently supporting policies included introducing alternative transportation. Most HICs have worthwhile experience in measuring and improving the fitness to drive in the elderly and enforce different laws according to social and political conditions. Utilizing these experiences by considering economic and social differences can be useful and practical for middle and low-income countries.

271 Ribosome heterogeneity by rRNA methylation in skin cell senescence

The accumulation of senescent cells is associated with several age-related pathologies and represents a primary driver of skin aging. Senescence cells cause tissue damage by secreting a mix of pro-inflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix remodeling factors. This study aims to elucidate how ribosomes and protein translation change in cellular senescence. Particularly we focus on alterations of the methylation patterns of ribosomal RNA. We exposed human dermal fibroblasts to doxorubicin to induce cellular senescence and tested if specific methylations of ribosomal RNA contribute to the senescent phenotype.

Age-based medical screening of drivers in Switzerland: an ecological study comparing accident rates with Austria and Germany.

In Switzerland, as in various other countries throughout the world, elderly drivers have to pass a medical screening assessment every two years to keep their driver's licence. The scientific literature shows no clear evidence that these policies improve road safety. This study evaluated the effects of the Swiss screening policy by comparing the accident and injury rates of elderly road users in Switzerland with those in Austria and Germany, two neighbouring countries without systematic age-based screening policies. The aims of this study were to examine if the screening policy is associated with a reduced risk of elderly car drivers causing serious accidents (research question 1) or with an increased risk of elderly pedestrians or (e-)cyclists being seriously or fatally injured (research question 2). In all three countries, data on accidents were taken from official statistics based on police reports and mileage data from national mobility surveys. An accident was defined as serious if at least one person is seriously or fatally injured in it. Accident and injury rates were calculated using distances driven and population size as measurement of exposure. Multiple Poisson regression models were used to examine the association between the Swiss policy and the accident or injury risk of elderly persons. We found no association between the screening policy for elderly drivers in Switzerland and their risk of causing a serious accident (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-1.94). Contrary to other studies, however, the Swiss policy was not associated with an increased risk of elderly pedestrians (IRR 1.16, 95% CI 0.80-1.68) and (e-)cyclists (IRR 0.79, 95% CI 0.56-1.12) being seriously or fatally injured. The intended positive effect of the Swiss screening policy on accident rates of elderly drivers could not be demonstrated in this study. These findings serve as a basis for discussion on how to proceed with the policy in the future.

Suppression of chromosome instability by targeting a DNA helicase in budding yeast.

Chromosome instability (CIN) is an important driver of cancer initiation, progression, drug resistance, and aging. As such, genes whose inhibition suppresses CIN are potential therapeutic targets. We report here that deletion of an accessory DNA helicase, Rrm3, suppresses high CIN caused by a wide range of genetic or pharmacological perturbations in yeast. Although this helicase mutant has altered cell cycle dynamics, suppression of CIN by rrm3∆ is independent of the DNA damage and spindle assembly checkpoints. Instead, the rrm3∆ mutant may have increased kinetochore-microtubule error correction due to an altered localization of Aurora B kinase and associated phosphatase, PP2A-Rts1.

Risk factors linked with elderly, truck and office worker drivers: Α literature review in light of automated driving

Risk factors linked with elderly, truck and office worker drivers: Α literature review in light of automated driving

Size and age of fatal drivers by crash type, vehicle type and gender

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the physical characteristics of fatal drivers in motor vehicle crashes with focus on rear impacts. Methods: 1998 to 2020 FARS data was analyzed for height, weight, and age of fatal drivers. The data was queried by gender, crash type and vehicle type. Results: The average fatal driver weighed 80.4 kg, was 173.4 cm tall, and was 43 years old. Females were 16.0 kg lighter and 14.2 cm shorter than males on average. The height was 151.2 cm for the 5th percentile female, 177.0 cm for the 50th male and 188.9 cm for the 95th male. The weight of fatal drivers increased linearly with calendar year. The increase rate was greater in females than in males. About 3% of fatal drivers were involved in rear crashes, 39.9% in frontal crashes and 36.8% in rollovers. The average fatal driver was 172.5 cm tall and weighed 81.0 kg in rear impacts. They were similar in height and weight to the overall sample. The average fatal driver in rear impacts was 46 years old, 3 years older than the overall average. Pickup truck drivers weighed 85.4 kg and were 176.8 cm tall on average. They were heavier and taller than passenger car drivers on average, which were 78.0 kg and 172.2 cm. Fatally injured minivan drivers were 10 years older than fatally injured passenger car drivers on average. The findings are compared with ATDs (anthropometric test devices) used in sled and crash testing. Conclusion: The average weight of fatal drivers increased with calendar year. The average size of fatal drivers was similar by crash types. Fatal drivers were older in rear impacts.

A focused natural compound screen reveals senolytic and senostatic effects of Isatis tinctoria

ABSTRACT Natural products and their derivatives historically represent alternatives to conventional synthetic molecules for pharmacotherapy, ranging from cancer chemotherapeutics to cosmetic ingredients that exert anti-aging activities. Cellular senescence is considered a main driver of skin aging, yet natural products that target skin senescence in a specific manner are not thoroughly explored. Here, we performed a focused compound screen to identify natural products that exert anti-senescence effects. We found that Isatis tinctoria, woad extracts, displayed a senolytic effect on senescent human skin fibroblasts. Furthermore, treatment with woad extracts attenuated the expression of pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), showing a senostatic activity. Intriguingly, woad extracts displayed only a marginal cytotoxic effect toward senescent human lung fibroblasts. Thus, our results reveal the potential activities of woad extracts for targeting skin senescence and suggest that woad extracts could be an attractive ingredient for cosmetics to prevent skin aging.

The detection of vulnerable road users by younger and older drivers

The detection of vulnerable road users (VRUs), especially under time constraints, may be impaired in elderly drivers, due to their visual and cognitive decline. This represents a major concern for road safety. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of aging on the detection of VRUs. A further aim was to investigate the impact of external factors on VRU detection. Twenty-two young adults, 20 younger-old adults, and 32 older-old adults were included in the study. A series of photographs were displayed for 500 ms. Participants were asked to detect the VRU, which could be a motorcyclist, a cyclist, or a pedestrian. The VRU was located at one of two distances (near/far), one of two locations (off-centered/centered), and in two car-DRL (daytime running lights) environments (on/off). The ability to correctly detect a VRU was measured. An eye-tracker was used to record eye movements. The main findings showed that VRU-detection performance decreased with aging, even in the younger-old group (ages 55–68). The ability to correctly detect a VRU by older-old adults was poorer particularly when the VRU was a motorcyclist or a cyclist. As a whole, the older-old adults made more fixations to correctly detect the VRU than the other two age groups did. Moreover, the visual angle between the gaze of the participant’s last fixation and the target in the older-old group was lower than in the other two groups, particularly when the VRU was off-centered. This finding suggests that older-old adults compensated for their visual-field decline by doing more visual exploration than the other two groups did to correctly detect the VRU. The results are discussed with regards to age-related cognitive and visual deficits.Word count: 279.

Combining stem cell rejuvenation and senescence targeting to synergistically extend lifespan.

Why biological age is a major risk factor for many of the most important human diseases remains mysterious. We know that as organisms age, stem cell pools are exhausted while senescent cells progressively accumulate. Independently, induction of pluripotency via expression of Yamanaka factors (Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, c-Myc; OKSM) and clearance of senescent cells have each been shown to ameliorate cellular and physiological aspects of aging, suggesting that both processes are drivers of organismal aging. But stem cell exhaustion and cellular senescence likely interact in the etiology and progression of age-dependent diseases because both undermine tissue and organ homeostasis in different if not complementary ways. Here, we combine transient cellular reprogramming (stem cell rejuvenation) with targeted removal of senescent cells to test the hypothesis that simultaneously targeting both cell-fate based aging mechanisms will maximize life and health span benefits. We find that OKSM extends lifespan and show that both interventions protect the intestinal stem cell pool, lower inflammation, activate pro-stem cell signaling pathways, and synergistically improve health and lifespan. Our findings suggest that a combination therapy, simultaneously replacing lost stem cells and removing senescent cells, shows synergistic potential for anti-aging treatments. Our finding that transient expression of both is the most effective suggests that drug-based treatments in non-genetically tractable organisms will likely be the most translatable.

Analysis of dangerous driving behavior per driver age with taxi driving log data

Analysis of dangerous driving behavior per driver age with taxi driving log data