Assessment of Insight and Self-Awareness in Older Drivers

Aged drivers, especially those with cognitive deficits related to dementia, are at increased risk of automobile accidents. With the numbers of older drivers and potentially older drivers with early dementia rising worldwide, it is important to delineate factors which may put these groups at increased risk of an accident while driving. One such factor is the lack of insight into their deficits often found in drivers with cognitive impairment. Intact insight and self-monitoring skills are important prerequisites for safe driving; loss of these abilities may signal the need to curtail or cease driving. There are several measures that attempt to assess the construct of insight; however, few have been used with older drivers. This paper reviews the issues of self-awareness and driving, discusses characteristics of a selection of such measures potentially appropriate for older adults, and details potential avenues for future research on insight inventories and driving. Use of such measures suggested in studies of driving in older populations may assist in identifying the drivers at increased risk for a motor vehicle accident.

Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07317115
Authors:
- Pachana, Nancy A
- Petriwskyj, Andrea M
Publication Date: 2006

Language

English

Media Info

Media Type: Print
Features: References;
Pagination: pp 23-38
Serial:
- Clinical Gerontologist
- Volume: 30
- Issue Number: 1
- Publisher: Haworth Press
- ISSN: 0731-7115
- EISSN: 1545-2301

Subject/Index Terms

TRT Terms: Aged; Aged drivers; Alzheimer's disease; Automobile driving; Awareness; Cognition; Cognitive impairment; Crash causes; Crash risk forecasting; Dementia; Driving cessation; High risk drivers; Traffic crashes
Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

Accession Number: 01052279
Record Type: Publication
Files: TRIS
Created Date: Jun 29 2007 2:59PM