Desempenho em um simulador de direção e sua relação com a capacidade cognitiva em condutores idosos

Abstract

With seniors increasing faster than younger populations, the average age of car drivers has gone up, and ageing-associated cognitive decline may interfere with the skills needed for safe driving. However, driving provides autonomy and quality of life, and being considered unfit to perform this task may restrict social life and lead to depression. As such, any restrictive measures should be based on careful assessment; however, the instruments available to evaluate the cognitive functions and the driving performance of the elderly need to be largely improved. Objective: To investigate the cognitive functions of elderly drivers and relate them to performance in a driving simulator, and to identify the most effective parameters of evaluation, thus contributing to traffic safety and to the creation of public policies. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study, involving 34 elderly drivers evaluated by a driving simulator and cognitive tests (Wechsler Intelligence Scale Codes, Divided Attention Test - TEADI, Trail Making test, Revised Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination - ACE-R and Rey Verbal Learning Test - RAVLT). Results: The tests that evaluate the cognitive functioning, especially those of verbal memory and the visuoconstructive abilities were the ones that demonstrated more relation with the performance in the driving simulator. Conclusions: The comparison between performance in cognitive tests and scores in the drive simulator shows a correlation between both, indicating that the worst performance in the simulator is associated with worse cognitive performance, proving to be a useful instrument to contribute to the evaluation of elderly drivers.