Elderly drivers involved in road crashes: a profile.
Am Surg
; 61(5): 435-7, 1995 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-7733551
ABSTRACT
The ability of elderly citizens to drive safely has been the subject of ongoing debate. To identify the type of elderly driver who becomes involved in an injury-producing road crash, we profiled all drivers over 39 years of age admitted to our Level I Trauma Center over a 1-year period. Data were prospectively collected and drivers age 40-59 years were compared with those over 60 years. Eighty-four drivers age > or = 60 and 130 drivers age 40-59 were studied. Of the 84 elderly drivers, 67 were deemed at fault. Twenty-four of those crashes were due to driving errors, 12 due to syncopes, and in 20 no crash cause was determined. Fifty-three of the 67 at fault drivers had significant underlying medical problems, compared to 9 of 17 deemed not at fault. Only four were legally intoxicated. Of the 130 drivers in the comparison group, only 19 had significant underlying medical problems; in three syncope was suspected; 18 were legally intoxicated. We conclude from our data that underlying medical disorders occur frequently in elderly drivers and may contribute to their incidence of road crashes.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Aging
/
Accidents, Traffic
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Am Surg
Year:
1995
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: