TY - JOUR
T1 - Driving self-restriction and age
T2 - a study of emergency department patients
AU - Betz, Marian E.
AU - Carpenter, Christopher R.
AU - Genco, Emma
AU - Carr, David B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by: the Paul Beeson Career Development Award Program [The National Institute on Aging; AFAR; The John A. Hartford Foundation; and The Atlantic Philanthropies; grant number-K23AG043123; Betz]; the Emergency Medicine Foundation (2009–2011 Research Fellowship; Betz); the John A. Hartford Center/University of Colorado Denver Center of Excellence (Betz & Genco); Grant Number 5 R49 CE001168 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Betz); the Washington University KM1 Comparative Effectiveness Award (1KM1CA156708-01; Carpenter); the Missouri Department of Transportation (Division of Highway Safety; Carr); Janssen Pharmaceuticals (115727–351; Carr); and the National Institute on Aging (P50AG05681 & P01AG03991-26; Carr). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. No sponsor had any direct involvement in study design, methods, subject recruitment, data collection, analysis, or manuscript preparation. Presentations: Presented as a poster at 2012 American College of Emergency Physicians meeting (October, 2012).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Betz et al.; licensee Springer.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - Background: Driving self-restriction is well-documented among older drivers but might also occur among younger drivers. Little is known about the driving patterns of emergency department (ED) patients, who may be a high-risk population for motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). We sought to compare the driving patterns and MVCs of younger and older adult ED patients in order to inform development of injury prevention interventions in EDs. Methods: We surveyed English-speaking younger adult (age 25–64) and older adult (age ≥65) ED patients, excluding non-drivers and those who were cognitively-impaired or too sick to participate. We compared drivers by age group and used logistic regression with adjustment for driving frequency to examine factors associated with driving self-restriction. Results: Of those eligible, 82% (n = 178) of younger adult and 91% (n = 134) of older adult patients participated; approximately half were women. Similar proportions of younger and older adult patients reported driving everyday/almost everyday (80%) but also self-restricting driving in inclimate weather (48%), heavy traffic (27%), in unfamiliar places (21%), when travelling with passengers (1.6%) or when alone (1.3%). Fewer younger adult than older adult patients avoided driving at night (22% versus 49%) or on highways (6.7% versus 26%). In multivariable logistic regression, factors significantly associated self-imposed driving restriction in ≥1 driving situation were female gender (Odds Ratio [OR] 2.40; 95% CI 1.42-4.05) and ever feeling “confused, nervous or uncomfortable” while driving (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.03-3.39). There was a non-significant trend for differences in proportions between younger adult (11%) and older adult (6.8%) drivers reporting ≥1 MVC as a driver in the past 12 months. Conclusions: Similar proportions of younger and older adult ED patients self-restrict driving, albeit in different situations, which has implications for behavioral interventions for injury prevention and for education of patients and medical providers.
AB - Background: Driving self-restriction is well-documented among older drivers but might also occur among younger drivers. Little is known about the driving patterns of emergency department (ED) patients, who may be a high-risk population for motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). We sought to compare the driving patterns and MVCs of younger and older adult ED patients in order to inform development of injury prevention interventions in EDs. Methods: We surveyed English-speaking younger adult (age 25–64) and older adult (age ≥65) ED patients, excluding non-drivers and those who were cognitively-impaired or too sick to participate. We compared drivers by age group and used logistic regression with adjustment for driving frequency to examine factors associated with driving self-restriction. Results: Of those eligible, 82% (n = 178) of younger adult and 91% (n = 134) of older adult patients participated; approximately half were women. Similar proportions of younger and older adult patients reported driving everyday/almost everyday (80%) but also self-restricting driving in inclimate weather (48%), heavy traffic (27%), in unfamiliar places (21%), when travelling with passengers (1.6%) or when alone (1.3%). Fewer younger adult than older adult patients avoided driving at night (22% versus 49%) or on highways (6.7% versus 26%). In multivariable logistic regression, factors significantly associated self-imposed driving restriction in ≥1 driving situation were female gender (Odds Ratio [OR] 2.40; 95% CI 1.42-4.05) and ever feeling “confused, nervous or uncomfortable” while driving (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.03-3.39). There was a non-significant trend for differences in proportions between younger adult (11%) and older adult (6.8%) drivers reporting ≥1 MVC as a driver in the past 12 months. Conclusions: Similar proportions of younger and older adult ED patients self-restrict driving, albeit in different situations, which has implications for behavioral interventions for injury prevention and for education of patients and medical providers.
KW - Avoidance
KW - Driving
KW - Emergency department
KW - Emergency department
KW - Older driver
KW - Self-restriction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977473114&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s40621-014-0018-z
DO - 10.1186/s40621-014-0018-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 26413455
AN - SCOPUS:84977473114
SN - 2197-1714
VL - 1
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Injury Epidemiology
JF - Injury Epidemiology
IS - 1
M1 - 18
ER -