Using mobile technology to inform driving decision-making in dementia
Project Overview
A major challenge in dementia care is determining the point at which driving becomes significantly compromised for people with dementia (PWD). Although physicians are expected to play a role in the driving decision-making process, many are reluctant to address this topic. Physicians typically rely on cognitive tests to assess fitness-to-drive at the individual level, but these have limited predictive ability with respect to driving. The current study will leverage a leading-edge in-vehicle Driving Monitoring System (DMS) with a global positioning system (GPS) to collect continuous, naturalistic driving data as PWD drive daily in their own vehicles and environments. Our overall goal is to test the effectiveness and usefulness of employing this technology to capture driving behaviours and distinguish between cognitively intact older drivers, older drivers with mild cognitive impairment and older drivers with mild dementia cross-sectionally, and to inform driving decision-making.
Principal Investigator
Mark Rapoport , Sunnybrook Research Institute
Partners and Donors
Alzheimer's Association