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Home > Our Schools > Professional Education > Patient Management > Patient Management: Driving > A Lighthouse Study Update

Driving and Vision: A Lighthouse Study Update

In 2004 Lighthouse International's Arlene Gordon Research Institute launched a study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, exploring driving transitions among people with vision problems. The five-year study focuses on current drivers with vision problems to identify what influences them to change their driving behavior or to stop driving -- and the psychological impact of these decisions.

Some Results Are In

Researchers have preliminary data based on interviews with 100 people who ranged in age from 55 to 90, with the average age of 75. Almost all made changes in their driving once they began having vision problems. The top five changes include not driving: at night, in snow/rainy conditions, during rush hour/busy traffic, in the city and in unfamiliar places.

About 75 people reported vision problems causing some difficulty with driving. A person's self-rating of his or her vision problems was more strongly related to the number of changes made to driving behavior or to considering not driving, as compared to objective vision measures such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and visual field.

Only 44 people considered the possibility of not driving in the future. Yet some reported that they're looking ahead for alternate plans when driving may not be an option. Participants were asked who they talk to about their concerns, what they talk about and whether or not these discussions influenced their driving decisions. Findings showed that about one-half spoke with family members and more than one-third each spoke to friends and to doctors. Some talked with more than one person. Most discussions involved general comments about vision and driving problems. For example, one 80-year-old man said, "What if there's a time in the future I can't drive -- maybe because of dementia or cataracts. My wife knows this, and it's very important to me that she learns to drive."

Other conversations with family members or doctors were about limiting or stopping driving, while some exchanges with friends provided emotional support around driving concerns. Some family members and friends have discussed giving the driver a ride if needed. For example, a 72-year-old woman described a conversation with her friend, "One day I might be dependent on my friends to pick me up and take me shopping, and I talked to her about that. She said, 'Great! I will take you anywhere you need'."

Yet about 80% of study participants indicated that these conversations did not change their driving behavior. A majority reported that doctors, spouses and children would most likely influence driving decisions. What can make driving transitions less stressful?

Adapted from Sharing Solutions, Spring 2006.

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