Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Gerontologist. 2023 Jan 24;63(1):140-154. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac115.
The prospect of automated vehicles (AVs) has generated excitement among the public and the research community about their potential to sustain the safe driving of people with dementia. However, no study to date has assessed the views of people with dementia on whether AVs may address their driving challenges.
This mixed-methods study included two phases, completed by nine people with dementia. Phase I included questionnaires and individual semistructured interviews on attitudes toward using different types of AVs (i.e., partially or fully automated). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to assess participants' underlying reasons for and against AV use. The participants' identified reasons against AV use informed the focus group discussions in Phase II, where participants were asked to reflect on potential means of overcoming their hesitancies regarding AV use.
The results showed that people with dementia might place higher levels of trust in fully automated compared to partially automated AVs. In addition, while people with dementia expressed multiple incentives to use AVs (e.g., regaining personal freedom), they also had hesitations about AV use. These hesitancies were based on their perceptions about AVs (e.g., cost), their own abilities (i.e., potential challenges operating an AV), and driving conditions (i.e., risk of driving in adverse weather conditions).
The findings of this study can help promote the research community's appreciation and understanding of the significant potential of AVs for people with dementia while elucidating the potential barriers of AV use by people with dementia.
自动驾驶汽车（AV）的前景引起了公众和研究界的兴奋，他们对 AV 有潜力维持痴呆症患者的安全驾驶能力寄予厚望。然而，迄今为止，尚无研究评估痴呆症患者对 AV 是否能够解决其驾驶挑战的看法。
本混合方法研究包括两个阶段，由 9 名痴呆症患者完成。第一阶段包括对使用不同类型的 AV（即部分或全自动）的态度进行问卷调查和个人半结构化访谈。解释性现象学分析用于评估参与者使用和不使用 AV 的潜在原因。参与者提出的不使用 AV 的原因将为第二阶段的焦点小组讨论提供信息，在讨论中，参与者被要求思考克服对使用 AV 的犹豫的潜在方法。
研究结果表明，痴呆症患者可能对全自动 AV 的信任程度高于部分自动化 AV。此外，尽管痴呆症患者表示有多种使用 AV 的动机（例如，恢复个人自由），但他们对使用 AV 也存在犹豫。这些犹豫是基于他们对 AV 的看法（例如，成本）、自己的能力（即操作 AV 的潜在挑战）和驾驶条件（即在恶劣天气条件下驾驶的风险）。
本研究的结果可以帮助促进研究界对 AV 对痴呆症患者的巨大潜力的认识和理解，同时阐明痴呆症患者使用 AV 的潜在障碍。
