Driving Cessation May Have Adverse Effects on Seniors

Older adults who stop driving are almost twice as likely to suffer from depression, according to a new report released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Columbia University. Past studies have revealed how driving can be dangerous for seniors; yet, 81% of the 39.5 million US citizens aged 65 or over are still behind the wheel.

Numerous declines in general health and wellbeing were noted in the AAA Foundation’s report as being associated with the cessation of driving among seniors. Researchers noticed diminished productivity among subjects and lower participation in daily activities. Likewise, without a direct means of transportation, there was a 51% reduction in the size of one’s social network over a 13-year period. Therefore, it would appear that driving cessation limited seniors’ ability to connect physically with those formally within their social circles. Also noted was an accelerated decline in overall cognitive ability, emphasizing that active usage of the cognitive functions required for driving could help to delay the onset of more serious cognitive decline.

Additionally, and perhaps unsurprisingly, once a senior retires from driving, he or she is five times more likely to enter a long-term care facility. Driving cessation also seems to bring about depressive symptoms. The ability to drive is closely associated with one’s personal identity and sense of independence, and driving cessation can cause an adverse psychological reaction and feelings of powerlessness. These emotional associations are so deeply ingrained that providing seniors with easy access to alternative forms of transportation does not seem to mitigate the negative psychological effects. However, the authors of the report note that data regarding the effect of driving cessation on depression relied on scores on a depression scale, not on clinical diagnoses of depression.

The authors do note a few limitations. Although the study focused only on people in the United States, it provides an up-to-date analysis of the research literature on driving cessation. The AAA foundation’s study has been made public and can be found at https://bit.ly/1fEDQz3. The organization also has a list of resources that can be used by physicians to help assess driving ability and by seniors to stay up-to-date on law changes and ways to continue driving after some physical abilities decline. —Sean McGuire