The role of physicians in assessing older drivers: barriers, opportunities, and strategies.

Background: Evaluation of the older driver is a difficult task for primary care physicians. We investigated the physician-perceived barriers to assessing older drivers in primary care practice.

Methods: Twenty family physicians whose patients had completed a clinical questionnaire and neuropsychological tests participated in one of 2 focus groups. Physicians were asked about barriers to assessing older drivers in primary care and the usefulness of neuropsychological tests for assessing driving ability.

Results: A number of themes emerged related to barriers in the assessment of the older driver. Major themes included concerns about being liable for the results of driving related screening and about patients reacting unfavorably to a driving assessment including cognitive tests. Physicians uniformly agreed that a protocol to guide driving assessment would be useful.

Conclusions: Physicians encounter a number of barriers to assessing older drivers but recognize the importance of driving within the context of geriatric functional assessment.