[Different awareness about driving between older drivers and their family member].

Abstract

Objective: This study examined how older drivers and their families differ in their awareness of driving and the consequences of the differences in driving.

Methods: A questionnaire about the driving behavior of older drivers was administered to 96 pairs of older drivers and their family members. We then analyzed the differences between the two groups.

Results: The percentage of responses was significantly different for the following questions between the older drivers and their family members: "I have become slower at operating my car than before" (21.5% for the older driver vs. 42.3% for the family member), "I seem to be upset easily recently" (17.2% vs. 33.3%), "I have to look for my car key or driver's license" (15.1% vs. 35.1%), "I have forgotten to turn off the blinker" (4.4% vs. 16.9%), "I scrape my car more frequently recently" (3.2% vs. 20.3%), and "I think my driving is okay so far" (95.7% vs. 63.3%). The number of items that differed significantly between older drivers and their family members was 6.1±4.1 per pair. The group that showed ≥7 different items showed a higher rate of accidents within the last 3 years than the group that showed ≤6 different items (25.8% vs. 4.3%, p<0.01).

Conclusions: Perceptions regarding driving differed between older drivers and their family members. This was related to the frequency of accidents. It is important to share differences in awareness regarding driving and discuss it within the family.