Identifying At-Risk Older Adult Community-Dwelling Drivers Through Neuropsychological Evaluation

Abstract

This study examined the predictive validity of widely utilized neuropsychological tests, the Cognitive Behavioral Driving Inventory (CBDI) and the Useful Field of View (UFOV), to predict driving abilities in a community-dwelling older adult population. Thirty-nine older adults were given the test battery and an on-the-road driving test. Results indicated that while performance on both the CBDI and UFOV was significantly predictive of driving performance, neuropsychological tests of executive function, memory, and visual perception were more predictive of on-the-road driving ability. These results suggest that standard neuropsychological assessment may be able to identify mild cognitive impairment as it relates to at-risk driving in a community-dwelling older adult population.

Key words:

• aging
• Cognitive Behavioral Driver's Inventory
• driving
• neuropsychological assessment
• Useful Field of View

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge Monica Malcein-Toros, Jennifer Guitano, and Maryann Yacoub for their assistance with this project. This research was funded, in part, through the National Academy of Neuropsychology Clinical Research Grant, and preliminary results were presented at the 2006 National Academy of Neuropsychology meeting, San Antonio, TX.

Notes

Note. MVPT-III = Motor-free Visual Perception Test, 3rd edition; HVOT = Hooper Visual Organization Test; WCST = Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; HVLT = Hopkins Verbal-Learning Test; IVA = Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test; 2 & 7 = Ruff 2 & 7 Selective Attention Task; CBDI = Cognitive Behavioral Driver's Inventory; UFOV = Useful Field of View; BOST = Basic Operator Skills Test.

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Note. The UFOV classifies driving risk on a 5-point scale. Participants in the very low-risk to low-risk category were considered to “pass”; participants in the low- to moderate-risk category were placed in the borderline column; and participants in the moderate-to-high and high-risk categories were placed into the fail column.

Note. The General Neuropsychological Tests consisted of: The Digit-Symbol task from the WAIS-III, Trails A and B, Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Task, the Wisconsin Card-Sorting Task (perseverative errors and total errors), Total Recall (Hopkins Verbal-Learning Test), Ruff 2 & 7 (accuracy), and the Stroop.

∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01.

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