Declines in driving frequency, complexity seen for drivers with mild cognitive impairment

Drivers with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have declines in driving frequency, complexity, and spatial range, according to a study published online Nov. 26 in Neurology.

Ling Chen, Ph.D., from the Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, and colleagues conducted a prospective, observational cohort study of community-dwelling older drivers to examine whether naturalistic driving data can differentiate older adults with MCI from those with normal cognition (NC). Using global positioning system-enabled in-vehicle dataloggers that recorded trip frequency, duration, distance, time of day, speeding, hard braking, and spatial mobility, driving behaviors were captured daily for up to 40 months.

The study included 298 participants: 56 with MCI and 242 with NC. The researchers found that over time, drivers with MCI showed greater reductions in monthly trip count (−0.501 versus −0.523), nightly trips (−0.334 versus −0.339), and random entropy (−0.008 versus −0.014) compared with drivers with NC. Medium trip distance, speeding events, entropy, and maximum distance could distinguish drivers with MCI from those with NC (area under the curve [AUC], 0.82). The AUC was improved to 0.87 by adding demographics, APOE ɛ4, and cognitive composite.

“Looking at people’s daily driving behavior is a relatively low-burden, unobtrusive way to monitor people’s cognitive skills and ability to function,” coauthor Ganesh M. Babulal, Ph.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a statement. “This could help identify drivers who are at risk earlier for early intervention, before they have a crash or near miss, which is often what happens now.”

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries.

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