Abstract

Simulated driving offers a convenient test of driving ability for older drivers, although the viability of using simulated driving with this population is mixed. The relative weighting of the relevant perceptual, cognitive, and physical factors may vary between simulated and on-road driving. The current study was designed to assess this possibility. We conducted simulated and on-road driving tests of 61 older adults aged 66–92 years. To ensure that the driving performance was measured similarly between the two driving modalities, we employed the Record of Driving Errors (RODE) driving assessment system during both driving tests. Correlation and random weights analysis (RWA) results indicated only modest evidence of correspondence between the simulated and on-road driving performances. The primary factors operative in both simulated and on-road driving was Useful Field of View and a measure of basic cognition. Unique factors for simulated driving included a measure of physical mobility (Time-Up-and-Go) and spatial reasoning (Line), and for on-road driving included chronological age and sensorimotor processing (Trail-Making Task A). Chronological age was correlated primarily the on-road rather than simulated test, was greatly reduced with the inclusion of additional explanatory factors, and likely reflects driving efficiency rather than driving safety. We conclude that simulated driving in healthy older drivers can be beneficial for research purposes to assess cognitive and perceptual factors that underly driving effectiveness, although it cannot serve as a clear proxy for on-road driving.

摘要

模拟驾驶为老年驾驶员提供了一种方便的驾驶能力测试，尽管在这一人群中使用模拟驾驶的可行性参差不齐。相关感知、认知和物理因素的相对权重在模拟驾驶和公路驾驶之间可能会有所不同。目前的研究旨在评估这种可能性。我们对 61 名 66-92 岁的老年人进行了模拟和道路驾驶测试。为确保在两种驾驶方式之间对驾驶性能进行类似测量，我们在两次驾驶测试中都采用了驾驶错误记录 (RODE) 驾驶评估系统。相关性和随机权重分析 (RWA) 结果仅表明模拟和道路驾驶性能之间存在对应关系的适度证据。在模拟驾驶和公路驾驶中起作用的主要因素是有用的视野和基本认知的衡量标准。模拟驾驶的独特因素包括身体移动性（Time-Up-and-Go）和空间推理（Line）的测量，而道路驾驶包括实足年龄和感觉运动处理（Trail-Making Task A）。实际年龄主要与道路测试而非模拟测试相关，随着包含额外的解释因素而大大降低，并且可能反映驾驶效率而不是驾驶安全。我们得出的结论是，健康老年驾驶员的模拟驾驶有助于研究目的，以评估影响驾驶效率的认知和感知因素，尽管它不能作为公路驾驶的明确代表。