@article{ref1,
title="Is mild dementia related to unsafe street-crossing decisions?",
journal="Alzheimer disease and associated disorders",
year="2014",
author="Dommès, Aurelie and Wu, Ya-Huei and Aquino, Jean-Pierre and Pitti-Ferrandi, Hélène and Soleille, Martine and Martineau-Fleury, Sophie and Samson, Michel and Rigaud, Anne-Sophie",
volume="29",
number="4",
pages="294-300",
abstract="The overrepresentation of very old people (75 or older) in pedestrian crash statistics raises the issue of the effects of normal and pathologic ageing on gap-selection difficulties during street crossing. The present study focused on Alzheimer disease, a condition commonly associated with cognitive declines detrimental to daily life activities such as crossing the street. Twenty-five participants with mild dementia and 33 controls carried out a street-crossing task in a simulated environment. They also took a battery of cognitive tests. The mild-dementia group was more likely than the control group to make decisions that led to collisions with approaching cars, especially when the traffic was coming from 2 directions and they were in the far lane. Regression analyses demonstrated that the increased likelihood of collisions in the dementia group was associated with impairments in processing-speed and visual-attention abilities assessed on the Useful Field of View test. This test has already proven useful for predicting driving outcomes, falls, and street-crossing difficulties in healthy old adults, and among drivers with Alzheimer disease. Clinicians are encouraged to use it to help estimate whether a patient can drive, walk, and cross a street safely.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0893-0341",
doi="10.1097/WAD.0000000000000074",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WAD.0000000000000074"
}