The Impact of Cognition and Gender on Speeding Behaviour in Older Drivers with and without Suspected Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Purpose

Mild cognitive impairment and gender can impact different aspects of driving performance and behaviour in older drivers. However, there is little evidence on how these may affect naturalistic speeding behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between speeding events and cognitive status for older male and female drivers.

Participants and Methods

A naturalistic driving study collected objective driving information over a two-week period using an in-vehicle monitoring device from 36 older drivers with suspected mild cognitive impairment and 35 older drivers without cognitive impairment. The outcome of interest examined was the number of speeding events, defined as travelling 5+ km/h over the posted speed limit for at least a minute.

Results

The majority of participants (n=58, 81.69%) did not have a speeding event during the two-week monitoring period. Twenty-three speeding events were recorded among seven drivers with suspected mild cognitive impairment and six drivers without cognitive impairment. The majority of speeding events (82.61%) were by older male drivers and occurred in 60km/h and 70km/h speed zones. The results of the two negative binomial regression models found that in older male drivers, suspected mild cognitive impairment (IRR=7.45, 95% CI=1.53–36.15, p=0.01) was associated with a significantly higher rate of speeding events, while increasing age was associated with a lower rate of speeding events (IRR=0.80, 95% CI=0.64–1.00, p=0.04). For older female drivers, there were no factors significantly associated with the rate of speeding events.

Conclusion

While the overall number of speeding events were infrequent, suspected mild cognitive impairment was associated with a significant increase in the rate of speeding events for older male drivers, but not for older female drivers. Speeding interventions and injury prevention policy strategies may need to be targeted differently for male and female drivers with mild cognitive impairment.

Keywords:

• naturalistic
• driver monitoring
• cognitive decline
• gender differences
• driving behaviour

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Vicki Graham, Lynn Sargent and the Survey Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, for their assistance in recruiting and interviewing participants for this research study. The authors would also like to thank all participants for their involvement and participation in the study.

Abbreviations

ADL, activities of daily living; CI, confidence interval; ETDRS, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study; IRR, incidence rate ratio; km, kilometers; km/h, kilometers per hour; logMAR, logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment; OARS, Older Americans Resources and Services; OARS-ADL, Older Americans Resources and Services-Activities of Daily Living; OBD II, On-Board Diagnostic II; OSM, OpenStreetMap; SD, standard deviation.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.