Citation

Ratnapradipa KL, Wang J, Berg-Weger M, Schootman M. J. Gerontol. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Center for Clinical Excellence, SSM Health, St. Louis, MO.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Gerontological Society of America, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/geronb/gbz058

PMID

31076775

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Driving cessation is associated with adverse social and health outcomes including increased mortality risk. Some former drivers resume driving. Do resumed drivers have a different mortality risk compared to former drivers or continued drivers? METHOD: We analyzed National Health and Aging Trends Study (2011-2015) data of community-dwelling self-responding ever drivers (n=6,189) with weighted stratified life tables and discrete time logistic regression models to characterize mortality risk by driving status (continued, resumed, former), adjusting for relevant sociodemographic and health variables.

RESULTS: Overall, 14% (n=844) of participants died and 52% (n=3,209) completed round 5. Former drivers had the highest mortality (25%), followed by resumed (9%) and continued (6%) drivers. Former drivers had 2.4 times the adjusted odds of mortality compared to resumed drivers (aOR 2.41; 95% CI 1.51, 3.83), with no difference between continued and resumed drivers (aOR 1.22; 95% CI 0.74, 1.99).

DISCUSSION: Those who resumed driving had better survival than those who did not. Practice implications include driver rehabilitation and retraining to safely promote and prolong driving.

© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Language: en

Keywords

driving cessation; longitudinal cohort; survival analysis; transportation