Predicting Long-Term Mobility Outcomes for Older Adults

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In order to identify functional ability risk factors for adverse mobility outcomes among older drivers, a collaborative study was initiated in 1998 between the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), NHTSA, and the NIA-funded UAB Roybal Center for Research on Applied Gerontology. In this study, a large sample (N=2415) of older adults was evaluated with a brief battery of performance-based measures after completing license renewal at several MVA field sites. In addition, a sub-sample of these participants (N=1432) was followed for a period of up to ten years by telephone interview in order to monitor changes in their overall health and mobility. Through that study, a limited set of functional ability tests were found to be predictive of future crash involvement, and deemed useful by the Maryland MVA for further evaluation and potential implementation in the licensing process. In addition, these same variables were found to be predictive of general declines in mobility and loss of independence. The present research proposes 1) to continue to follow the 812 older adults remaining in the interview sample as they continue to age, 2) to establish a new, more representative, population-based sample of drivers (aged 70+) using the next generation of functional ability tests to determine whether earlier crash prediction relationships can be replicated, and 3) to evaluate a speed of processing cognitive training program in the context of the MVA as a means of facilitating and extending safe mobility.