This study aimed to better understand the extent to which older adult centres are a focal point for recreation and social activities for their members. Travel diaries completed by 261 members of 12 older adult centres across Ontario provided comprehensive and real-time (24-hour) data over two consecutive weeks concerning time away from home, trip purposes, and modes of travel. The data showed that nearly one-third of their trips included a stop at their older adult centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
December 2023
Background: Assessing an older adult's fitness-to-drive is an important part of clinical decision making. However, most existing risk prediction tools only have a dichotomous design, which does not account for subtle differences in risk status for patients with complex medical conditions or changes over time. Our objective was to develop an older driver risk stratification tool (RST) to screen for medical fitness-to-drive in older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study compared a sample of Australian drivers aged 77 years and older to participants from an older driver longitudinal cohort study (Ozcandrive) and examined the relationship between resilience and self-reported driving measures within these samples. Using a survey with a subset of questions from Ozcandrive, data were collected from 237 older drivers throughout Australia. The two samples were analyzed for differences in demographics, health, resilience, and self-reported driving behavior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Despite three decades of research, gaps remain in meeting the needs of people with dementia and their family/friend carers as they navigate the often-tumultuous process of driving cessation. This paper describes the process of using a knowledge-to-action (KTA) approach to develop an educational web-based resource (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This study examined the contribution of psychological resilience on self-reported driving comfort, abilities, and restrictions, and on naturalistic driving (ND) behavior of older adults at two time points, five years apart (N = 111; Male: 65.8%, Mean age = 86.1 years).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine whether vehicle type based on size (car vs. other = truck/van/SUV) had an impact on the speeding, acceleration, and braking patterns of older male and female drivers (70 years and older) from a Canadian longitudinal study. The primary hypothesis was that older adults driving larger vehicles (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccid Anal Prev
September 2020
Older drivers' self-awareness of driving ability can prompt self-regulatory behaviors and modifications of their everyday driving performance. To date, studies have yet to examine how older drivers' self-awareness of changes in driving ability over time or identify the characteristics of those who can accurately monitor such changes. 64 older drivers (Age: Mean = 80.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost older adults perceive themselves as good drivers; however, their perception may not be accurate, and could negatively affect their driving safety. This study examined the accuracy of older drivers' self-awareness of driving ability in their everyday driving environment by determining the concordance between the perceived (assessed by the Perceived Driving Ability [PDA] questionnaire) and actual (assessed by electronic Driving Observation Schedule [eDOS]) driving performance. One hundred and eight older drivers (male: 67.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current study aimed to: 1. to confirm the 21-item, three-factor Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) structure suggested by Koppel et al. (2018) within an independent sample of Canadian older drivers; 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Nutr Gerontol Geriatr
October 2019
A mixed-methods needs assessment was conducted in an urban senior center serving lower-income seniors in Toronto, Ontario, to determine whether they should offer a congregate meal program. Methods included three focus groups with participants (n = 31), a focus group with staff (n = 8), a center-wide survey (n = 36), and a community scan of programs in the area. Interviews with five coordinators at other seniors' centers who offered meal programs were also used to gauge interest and assist with program development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEngagement in civic, social, and community life plays an important role in health, well-being, and quality of life, and requires individuals to be mobile in their environment. In this article, we review what is currently known about 2 areas relevant to safe mobility for older drivers and identify future research in these areas. Using a framework for transportation and safe mobility, 2 key areas were selected for review: the process of transitioning to non-driving and the maintenance of mobility after driving has ceased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis pilot study examined changes in physical activity and function among older adults moving from community dwellings to retirement living. Twelve community-dwelling older adults, recruited from the wait-lists of two retirement living facilities, were assessed prior to and following the transition to retirement living. Physical activity was assessed using an Actigraph (GT3X+) activity monitor; physical activity by type was reported with the CHAMPS activity questionnaire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examined the relations between perceived health (e.g., self-perceived health status) and driving self-regulatory practices (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to determine if season or weather affected the objectively measured trip distances of older drivers (≥ 70 years; n = 279) at seven Canadian sites. During winter, for all trips taken, trip distance was 7 per cent shorter when controlling for site and whether the trip occurred during the day. In addition, for trips taken within city limits, trip distance was 1 per cent shorter during winter and 5 per cent longer during rain when compared to no precipitation when controlling for weather (or season respectively), time of day, and site.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe hypothesized that changes over time in cognitive performance are associated with changes in driver perceptions, attitudes, and self-regulatory behaviors among older adults. Healthy older adults (n = 928) underwent cognitive assessments at baseline with two subsequent annual follow-ups, and completed scales regarding their perceptions, attitudes, and driving behaviours. Multivariate analysis showed small but statistically significant relationships between the cognitive tests and self-report measures, with the largest magnitudes between scores on the Trails B cognitive task (seconds), perceptions of driving abilities (β = -0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo date, associations between psychosocial driving variables and behaviour have been examined only cross-sectionally. Using three waves of data collected annually from 928 older drivers (mean age = 76.21 years; 62% male) enrolled in the Candrive II cohort, we examined in this study whether changes in attitudes and perceptions towards driving (decisional balance and day and night driving comfort) were associated with changes in older adults' reported restrictions in driving practices and perceived driving abilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined a cohort of 227 older drivers and investigated the relationship between performance on the electronic Driver Observation Schedule (eDOS) driving task and: (1) driver characteristics; (2) functional abilities; (3) perceptions of driving comfort and abilities; and (4) self-reported driving restrictions. Participants (male: 70%; age: M = 81.53 years, SD = 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of The Study: The Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) was developed to assess older adults' attitudes related to driving and includes both intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations for driving. This study examined the psychometric properties of the DBS ratings across 3 time points in a sample of 928 older drivers who participated in the Canadian Driving Research Initiative for Vehicular Safety in the Elderly (Candrive).
Design And Methods: Measurement invariance of the DBS was assessed longitudinally and across gender.
Background: Assessing medical fitness to drive (FTD) can include both off- and on-road testing, although consistency of practice is unclear.
Purpose: To examine actual practices being used to assess FTD at driver assessment centres (DACs) across Canada.
Method: Surveys e-mailed to 90 DACs were returned by 47 assessors.
Objective: Most studies on older adults' driving practices have relied on self-reported information. With technological advances it is now possible to objectively measure the everyday driving of older adults in their own vehicles over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of older drivers to accurately estimate their kilometers driven over one year relative to objectively measured driving exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined whether symptoms (motor, cognitive, vision, sleepiness, depression) of Parkinson's disease (PD) were associated with restricted driving practices. To quantify driving practices, electronic devices were installed in the vehicles of 27 drivers with PD (78 % men; M = 71.6, SD = 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between cognitive performance, driver perceptions and self-reported driving restrictions. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on baseline data from Candrive II, a five-year prospective cohort study of 928 older drivers aged 70-94 years from seven cities. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as well as the Trail Making Test, parts A and B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Candrive II/Ozcandrive study, a multicentre prospective cohort study examining the predictive validity of tools for assessing fitness to drive, aims to develop an in-office screening tool that will help clinicians identify older drivers who may be unsafe to drive. This paper describes the study protocol. We are following a cohort of drivers aged ≥70 years for up to 4 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relations among driving-related psychosocial measures (e.g., driving comfort, attitudes toward driving) and measures of self-reported health were examined in the context of driver characteristics (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study sought to investigate the influence of subclinical sleep disturbances on driving practices and driver perceptions in a large cohort of healthy older drivers. Participants from the Candrive II prospective cohort study were investigated. Self-reported measures of sleep problems were used to determine the influence of sleep disturbance on self-reported driving practices and perceived driving abilities, as measured by the Situational Driving Frequency, Situational Driving Avoidance, and Perceived Driving Abilities scales.
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