Self-awareness predicts fitness to drive among adults referred to occupational therapy evaluation

Abstract

BackgroundDriving is associated with independence, well-being, quality of life, and an active lifestyle. Driving requires cognitive, motor, and visual skills, including self-awareness and processing speed. This study examines whether driver self-awareness, motor processing speed, and cognitive processing speed can predict fitness to drive among individuals referred to occupational therapy evaluation due to concerns about their driving ability.MethodIn this cross-sectional study, 39 participants were referred to off- and on-road driving evaluation to determine their fitness to drive due to changes in health status, advanced age, license renewal requirement, or prior automobile accidents. A registered occupational therapist (OT) classified 23 of the participants as fit to drive and 16 as unfit to drive. Motor and cognitive processing speed were assessed by the Stationary Perception-Reaction Timer and the Color Trails Test, respectively. Driving self-awareness was assessed by comparing the DI and OT evaluations to the participants' estimation of their own on-road driving performance.ResultsThe fit-to-drive participants had a better motor and cognitive processing speed than those unfit-to-drive. The unfit-to-drive group overestimated their driving ability, whereas the fit-to-drive group accurately or almost accurately estimated their driving ability. Driving self-awareness was a significant predictor of participants' fitness to drive.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the importance of self-awareness for predicting fitness to drive among people at risk for compromised driving skills. Thus, driving self-awareness should be addressed as part of fitness-to-drive evaluations and interventions.

Pemahaman pada Neurosains pada Pendidikan Islam dan Hubungannya dengan Perkembangan Karakter

“…kesadaran diri dan pengendalian diri adalah komponen kunci dalam pengembangan karakter. Kesadaran diri memungkinkan seseorang untuk memahami nilai-nilai pribadi dan motivasi mereka, memberikan wawasan tentang apa yang penting bagi mereka dan mengapa (Rosenfeld et al, 2022). Ini membantu dalam pengambilan keputusan yang selaras dengan nilai-nilai tersebut.…”

Online awareness is associated with superior performance on assessments of functional cognition

“…Thus, awareness of increased difficulty when performing everyday activities is a prerequisite for developing and using compensatory strategies and there is evidence that older adults have diminished awareness of errors on both laboratory measures and in daily life ( Harty et al, 2013 ). Older adults’ failure to recognize limitations can negatively affect performance areas critical to everyday functioning such as financial management and driving ( Steward et al, 2019 ; Rosenfeld et al, 2022 ). Awareness has also been associated with older adults change in strategies to avoid potential falls ( Vincenzo et al, 2022 ).…”