Driving Cessation and Late-Life Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms: Findings from the National Health and Aging Trends Study

ABSTRACT

Objectives

To describe the association between driving cessation and depressive and anxiety symptoms over time by assessing depression and anxiety at 1- and 4-years follow-up.

Methods

The study examined community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older from the National Health and Aging Trends Study who were driving at the 2015 interview and completed 1-year (N = 4,182) and 4-year (N = 3,102) follow-up interviews. Outcomes were positive screens for depressive and anxiety symptoms in 2016 or 2019, and the primary independent variable was driving cessation within one year of the baseline interview.

Results

Adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, driving cessation was associated with depressive symptoms at 1 year (OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.33–3.82) and 4-year follow-up (OR = 3.55, 95% CI: 1.72–7.29). Driving cessation was also associated with anxiety symptoms at 1 year (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.05–2.79) and 4 year follow up (OR = 3.22, 95% CI: 1.04–9.99).

Conclusions

Driving cessation was associated with an increased risk of developing depressive and anxiety symptoms in later life. However, reasons for this association remain unclear.

Clinical Implications

Although the mechanism linking driving cessation with worse mental health symptoms is uncertain, driving facilitates many important activities. Clinicians should monitor the well-being of patients who stop or intend to stop driving.

KEYWORDS:

• Functioning
• mental health
• mobility

Acknowledgments

The funders had no role in the article’s design, data analysis, the decision to publish, or manuscript preparation. The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://www.nhats.org, from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Produced and distributed by https://www.nhats.org with funding from the National Institute on Aging (grant number U01AG32947).

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Simning was supported by the National Institute on Aging (grant number K23AG058757). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.