ATTENTION AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

This study examined the relationship between visual attention measures and driving performance in healthy older adults and individuals with very mild and mild dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT). Subjects were administered an on-road driving assessment and three visual attention tasks (visual search, visual monitoring, and useful field of view). The results indicated that error rate and reaction time during visual search were the best predictors of driving performance. Furthermore, visual search performance was predictive of driving performance above and beyond simple dementia severity and several traditional psychometric tests. The results suggest that general cognitive status may be useful for identifying individuals "at risk" for unsafe driving. However, measures of selective attention may serve to better differentiate safe versus unsafe drivers, especially in the DAT population.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/10795014
• Corporate Authors:

  Gerontological Society of America

  1030 15th Street, NW, Suite 250
  Washington, DC  United States  20005-4006
• Authors:
  • Duchek, J M
  • Hunt, L
  • Ball, K
  • Buckles, V
  • Morris, J C
• Publication Date: 1998-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 130-141
• Serial:
  • Journals of Gerontology. Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
  • Volume: 53B
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Gerontological Society of America
  • ISSN: 1079-5014

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alzheimer's disease; Attention; Attention lapses; Driving; Performance; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Visual attention
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00767432
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 23 2004 12:00AM