Predictors of driving cessation among older drivers in Taiwan

This 4-year prospective cohort study was conducted to identify predictors of driving cessation among older people in Taiwan. Individuals who had visited the outpatient clinics of a general hospital in Taipei City, were aged ≥ 65 years, and drove a car at least once a week were recruited for this study. Baseline data on sociodemographics, lifestyle behaviors, health conditions, driving characteristics, and functional measures were collected. The driving status of participants was followed up through telephonic interviews at 2-month intervals. Driving cessation was defined as not having driven a car in the previous 6 months. Of the 245 drivers in the study, 86 (35.1%) had ceased driving. A proportional hazard model revealed that after adjustment for age, sex, height, and other variables, older drivers who were widowed, were single or divorced (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.58–5.31), had coronary artery disease (HR = 3.48; 95% CI, 1.90–6.40), and had a short stride length (HR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96–0.98) were significantly more likely than their counterparts to cease driving. By contrast, older drivers who were overweight or obese (HR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.31–0.83), exercised at least 3 times a week (HR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.33–0.88), and had high scores on cognitive conceptualization (HR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82–0.97) were significantly less likely to cease driving. Numerous factors, including marital status, body mass index, coronary artery disease, stride length, cognitive conceptualization, and regular exercise, were identified as predictors among older Taiwanese drivers. Gait characteristics were identified as a predictor of driving cessation for the first time, but the underlying mechanism requires further investigation.