Association of cognitive and physical traits with on-road driving performance in Brazilian older adults

The global population of licensed older drivers has experienced a notable increase. It is known that physical and cognitive changes are inherent to the aging process. Sensory, cognitive, and physical deficiencies among older adults are associated with poor driving performance and crashes. The impact of cognitive and physical impairments on the fitness to drive remains insufficiently understood in many scenarios, particularly in Brazil. This study evaluated physical and cognitive functions of community-dwelling Brazilian older drivers in domains relevant to driving, and associated these findings with the performance in a standardized on-road test in real urban traffic conditions. A sample of 138 volunteers (mean of 70.7 years) was tested for physical and cognitive functionalities, and then assessed by driving a pre-defined route of 10 km on urban roads. In this study, there was no association between physical functions and the general aptitude for driving, albeit a slower walking speed was found associated with more errors at intersections and lane merging. Regarding cognition, an overall poorer on-road driving performance was associated with lower scores in executive functions, especially in the time management ability, while errors in specific maneuvers were associated with declines in attention capacity, cognitive flexibility, and visuospatial organization ability.