The driving competence of 90-year-old drivers: from a hospital-based driving clinic.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the performance on a standardized driving evaluation of a group of oldest old adults (age 90-97) against younger old adults (age 80-87) and examine whether the same cognitive variables and brake reaction time performance were associated with pass-fail status on a road test in both groups. Secondary objectives focused on an examination of the specific driving errors of both groups.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study was conducted in the setting of a clinical driving evaluation program at an academic medical center in the United States. In this study we examined the performance of 88 participants (27 age 90-97 and 61 age 80-87) who completed comprehensive driving evaluations between 1997 and 2011. The outcome variable was performance on a standardized road test. Measures included the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and brake reaction time (BRT). An exploratory analysis of the possible predictive value of specific MMSE subtests was also performed.

RESULTS

Results indicate that the oldest old adults (90-97 years old) were at no greater driving risk than were a younger old (80-87 years old) cohort and made similar types and frequency of driving errors. TMT-B time was associated with pass-fail status in both groups. MMSE attention items discriminated between safe and unsafe younger old drivers, and MMSE orientation items were associated with pass-fail status in the oldest old cohort.

CONCLUSION

Drivers age 90 and above were at no greater driving risk than those one decade younger. MMSE orientation questions may be useful to assist in identifying which oldest old drivers could benefit from a comprehensive driving evaluation including an on-road test.