Association between cognition, gait speed and vehicle habilitation in elderly people

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between cognition, gait speed and the result of vehicle habilitation of elderly candidates for the National Driver’s License. Methods: Quantitative cross-sectional study developed in 12 traffi c agencies in Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil. The probabilistic sample consisted of 421 elderly people (≥ 60 years). The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), gait speed testing and consultations to forms of the National Qualifi ed Drivers Registration were used for data collection. The relationship between variables was identifi ed through the multiple linear regression test, stepwise method, using the statistical program R, version 3.4.0. Results: When increasing a unit in the MMSE score, the chance of the elderly person being considered as temporarily unfi t to drive decreased by 54.96% (95% CI; 28.47% - 92.69%I; p<0.0001). When increasing a unit in the MMSE score, there was an increase in gait speed (GS) of 0.0091 (95% CI: 0.0005 - 0.0174; p=0.0366). Conclusion: The high MMSE score decreased the probability of the elderly participant being considered temporarily unfi t to drive motor vehicles. There was a trend of higher GS with the increase in MMSE scores. As GS is an important indicator to be assessed in elderly drivers, this topic should be included in evaluations of traffi c agencies, as well as cognitive screening, which is essential to assess a set of mental activities necessary for safe driving.