by Julia Milzer, CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Deciding when to stop driving can be challenging for older adults and their families. A study published today in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society shows that using a decision aid tool can be beneficial and help older adults when faced with this difficult decision.

In a randomized clinical trial with more than 300 participants, researchers looked at the long-term impact of providing Healthwise, an online driving decision aid, to older adults to help reduce uncertainty towards their intent to continue or stop driving.

They conducted follow up interviews every six months for two years to study the effect on the participants, who were ages 70 and older and had health conditions that might affect their driving ability.

“Decision aids have been shown to help with decision-making in health care settings such as for dialysis or surgeries, among many other times when someone is faced with a difficult decision involving their health and safety. However, when it comes to driving decisions, and when it’s time to give up your license for potential safety and health reasons, there aren’t many tools available for health care professionals or families to help with this hard decision,” said Carolyn DiGuiseppi, MD, MPH, Ph.D., professor in the department of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Study shows a positive impact

The researchers found overall, after two years of follow up, the group who used the online driving decision aid had significantly less personal uncertainty about which action to take (i.e., less decisional conflict) and less distress after making a decision (i.e., less decision regret) than the group who didn’t use the decision aid.

“Our research shows using a decision aid could really help older adults have better experiences deciding whether to stop or continue driving—a decision that can evoke sadness and a sense of loss as driving often represents independence and mobility,” DiGuiseppi says.

The researchers note that although participants who used the decision aid had a better overall experience, the aid did not significantly reduce the occurrence of depression, which can be common with a significant life change like no longer driving.

This study was led by Principal Investigator Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, a professor of emergency medicine at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Betz and her colleagues published initial results from the study in Traffic Injury Prevention, whereas this paper details the results after two years of follow up.

The authors highlight that it was important to look at in this study if more effects didn’t immediately set in, such as if participants had regrets and felt more uncertain about the decision over time. Today’s paper answers those pressing questions.

More information: Carolyn G. DiGuiseppi et al, An online driving decision aid for older drivers reduces ambivalence and regret about driving decisions: Randomized trial, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2024). DOI: 10.1111/jgs.19293

Journal information:Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Provided by CU Anschutz Medical Campus

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Online tool helps older adults who question, ‘Is it time to stop driving?’

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