Predicting Long-Term Mobility Outcomes for Older Adults

描述（由申请人提供）：为了确定老年驾驶员中不利移动结果的功能能力风险因素，马里兰州机动车管理局（MVA），NHTSA和NIA资助的UAB Roybal应用老年学研究中心于1998年启动了一项合作研究。在这项研究中，一个大样本（N=2415）的老年人进行了评估，在几个MVA现场完成许可证续期后，一个简短的电池性能为基础的措施。此外，这些参与者的子样本（N=1432）进行了长达十年的电话采访，以监测他们的整体健康和流动性的变化。通过这项研究，发现一组有限的功能能力测试可以预测未来的碰撞参与，并被马里兰州MVA认为有助于进一步评估和潜在的实施许可过程。此外，这些相同的变量被发现是预测的流动性和独立性的丧失普遍下降。本研究建议：1）继续跟踪访谈样本中剩余的812名老年人，因为他们继续变老，2）建立一个新的，更具代表性的，基于人口的驾驶员样本（70岁以上）使用下一代功能能力测试来确定早期的碰撞预测关系是否可以复制，以及3）在MVA的背景下评估处理认知训练计划的速度，作为促进和扩展安全移动性的手段。

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.