Sociodemographic and Health Factors Influencing Driving Avoidance among Older Drivers

This study aims to identify sociodemographic and health factors influencing night and highway driving avoidance among older drivers. Data were obtained from the third wave of the Florida Disability Study (1992). The study population consists of generally healthy community-living old-old persons residing in Florida retirement communities. We restricted our sample to those who were driving (N = 562). Respondents had a mean age of 80, and 52% of older drivers were female. Two separate logistic regression models were estimated by type of driving avoidance: night and highway driving avoidance. At each model, sociodemographic and health variables were entered in two blocks: (1) sociodemographic characteristics and (2) health status. At each block, variables were entered with the forward method using the likelihood ratio. The results showed that older drivers were more likely to avoid driving at night than on highway, 39.0% and 20.6% of avoidance rate, respectively. Female gender, having glaucoma, poor self-rated health, and older age were identified as risk factors for driving avoidance. Female gender was the most influential factor for both night driving avoidance (OR = 5.80, p < .001) and highway driving avoidance (OR = 3.42, p < .001). The odds of night and highway driving avoidance were about twice higher if an older driver had glaucoma. These findings contribute to the understanding of elderly clients' driving behaviors and associated sociodemographic and health factors among health professionals.