Older Adults and Driving Reduction: Is the Gender Gap Narrowing?

Older Adults and Driving Reduction: Is the Gender Gap Narrowing? Heidy Hassan, Dr. Mark King, Dr. Kerrianne Watt Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2015) Gold Coast October 2015 CRICOS No. 00213J

Background • Ageing population (ABS,2008) - >65s increase from 13% in 2007 to 23% in 2030. - >85s increase from 1.6% in 2007 to 7% by 2056. • The mobility and transportation needs for the baby boomers are distinctively different than previous generations (Eby & Molnar, 2012).

Background (2) • Restricting or stopping driving has been associated with adverseconsequences (Adler & Rottunda, 2006) However • Inevitable age-related declines. • Older drivers are more likely to be injured or killed in a crash than younger or middle-aged drivers (King et al., 2011).

Self-regulation The adjustments made by drivers in their driving behaviour that adequately match changing cognitive, sensory and motor capacities (Charlton, Oxley, Fildes, Oxley, Newstead, Koppel, & O’Hare, 2006)

Self-regulation (2) Self-regulatory practices fall into two categories: • Avoidance of challenging situations • Reducing the overall amount of driving

Gender differences Older women are more likely to self-regulate and to stop driving earlier compared to older men (Kostyniuk & Molnar, 2008) • Driving experiences (Marottoli et al., 1993) • Importance of driving (Musselwhite & Haddad, 2010b). • Driving confidence (McNamara, Chen, George, Walker, & Ratcliffe, 2013) .

Gender differences (2) Older female drivers: • Will constitute a larger part of the older driver population in the near future (Oxley, J., Charlton, J., Fildes, B., Koppel, S. & Scully, J., 2004) • Increased likelihood of being injured or killed in a crash compared to older male drivers (Oxley, J., Charlton, J., Fildes, B., Koppel, S. & Scully, J., 2004) • Increased likelihood to live alone (Siren, Hakamies-Blomqvist & Lindeman, 2004)

Rationale • Driving reduction is one of the most common self-regulatory behaviour adopted by ageing drivers, however, it has received less attention compared to avoidance behaviour. • It is still unclear if the factors that predict driving reduction among older drivers differ by gender.

Aim To investigate self-reported driving reduction among a sample of older drivers in Queensland, Australia, with the aims of: • identifying the predictors of the decision to reduce driving and • if these predictors differed between males and female.

MethodologyParticipants • N = 229; 137M, 92F • Aged 70 years and older (M = 75.6, SD = 5.2) • 77% rated their health to be excellent or very good. • Driving experience (M = 55.2, SD = 0.4) years. • Self-report questionnaire

MethodologyMeasures • Socio-demographics and self-rated health. • Driving experience (length of possession of an open driving license) • Driving confidence scale (Marottoli & Richardson, 1998) • Driving stress scale (Hakamies-Blomqvist, 1998) • Driving importance • Driving relinquishment scale • Perceived driving ability scale (MacDonald, Myers & Blanchard, 2008)

MethodologyOutcome measure Self-reported driving reduction: rating of overall amount of driving compared to ten years ago on a 4 point scale from “much less” to “more” (grouped into two categories: “much less, a little less” as reduced vs “the same, more” as not reduced)

Analysis • Differences between groups were examined using Chi-square analysis and t-test statistics • Binary logistic regression modelling to determine the characteristics of those who reduced their driving compared to those who did not for both males and females. • A hierarchical regression model was developed, where the effect of age and driving experience was controlled for.

Results70% of the whole sample indicated that they have reduced their overall driving compared to ten year.

Results (2)

Females compared to males: • more likely to be living alone (51% vs. 22%). • more likely to rate driving as extremely important compared to males (52.5% vs. 39%). • more likely to score higher on the stress scale (which indicates higher nervousness) and lower scores on the confidence scale (whichindicateslower confidence).

Logistic regression analysis and the best predictor variables for driving reduction among males (n=137) χ2= 18.391, p<0.001, Nagelkerke R2=0.193

Logistic regression analysis and the best predictor variables for driving reduction among females (n=92) χ2= 18.954, p<0.001, Nagelkerke R2=0.25

Limitations • Self-reported data. • Relatively healthy participants and no measure of cognitive status. • Cross-sectional. • We did not ask for the reasons they reduced their driving.

Key findings • Reduction of driving was significantly more prevalent among males than females. • Females reported significantly greater avoidance than males in a number of challenging driving situations.

Future directions • In-depth qualitative research is needed to capture the reasons why older women and men reduce driving and how it impacts their mobility needs. • It is important to acknowledge gender differences when designing interventions aimed at enhancing safe mobility.

References • ABS. (2008). Population Projections, Australia, 2006 to 2101. • Adler, G., & Rottunda, S. (2006). Older adults' perspectives on driving cessation. Journal of Aging Studies, 20(3), 227-235. • Charlton, J., Oxley, J., Fildes, B., Oxley, P., Newstead, S., Koppel, S., & O’Hare, M. (2006). Characteristics of older drivers who adopt self-regulatory driving behaviours. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 9(5), 363-373. • Eby, D. & Molnar, L. (2012). Has the time come for an older driver vehicle? The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Retreived online from http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/89960/102821.pdf;jsessionid=2B10E80072C24E178E600F2840FD332B?sequence=1 • Hakamies-Blomqvist, L., & Wahlström, B. (1998). Why do older drivers give up driving? Accident Analysis & Prevention, 30(3), 305-312. • King, M., Soole, D., Watson, A., & Schramm, A. (2011). Older Driver Safety Advisory Committee – Supporting Research and Consultation. Report to Department of Transport and Main Roads • Kostyniuk , L. P., & Molnar, L. J. (2008). Self-regulatory driving practices among older adults: Health, age and sex effects. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40(4), 1576-1580.

References (2) • MacDonald, L., Myers, A. M., & Blanchard, R. A. (2008). Correspondence among older drivers' perceptions, abilities, and behaviors. Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, 24(3), 239. • Marottoli, R. A., Ostfeld, A. M., Merrill, S. S., Perlman, G. D., Foley, D. J., & Cooney, L. M., Jr. (1993). Driving cessation and changes in mileage driven among elderly individuals. Journal of Gerontology, 48(5), S255-260 • Marottoli, R.A., & Richardson, E.D. (1998). Confidence in, and self-rating of, driving ability among older drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30, 331-336 • McNamara, A., Chen, G., George, S., Walker, R., & Ratcliffe, J. (2013). What factors influence older people in the decision to relinquish their driver's licence? A discrete choice experiment. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 55, 178 • Musselwhite, C., & Haddad, H. (2010b). Mobility, accessibility and quality of later life. Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 11(1), 25-37. • Siren, A., Hakamies-Blomqvist, L., & Lindeman, M. (2004). Driving Cessation and Health in Older Women. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 23(1), 58-69.

Questions? [Heidy.hassan@qut.edu.au] Mark your Diaries! Sixth International Conference on Traffic & Transport Psychology 2-5 August 2016 Brisbane, Australia http://icttp2016.com/ CRICOS No. 00213J

Older Adults and Driving Reduction: Is the Gender Gap Narrowing?