Protocol for Candrive II/Ozcandrive, a multicentre prospective older driver cohort study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Transportation Safety
• Clinical Epidemiology

Background:

• Assessing fitness to drive in older adults is crucial for public safety and individual mobility.
• Existing methods for evaluating driving capability in seniors can be time-consuming and may not accurately predict driving risk.
• The Candrive II/Ozcandrive study addresses the need for efficient and reliable in-office screening tools for older drivers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an in-office screening tool for assessing driving fitness in drivers aged 70 years and older.
• To identify predictors of unsafe driving in the elderly population.
• To improve clinician ability to identify older drivers who may pose a risk on the road.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre prospective cohort study design following drivers aged ≥70 years for up to 4 years.
• Recruitment of 928 participants in Canada and 302 in Australia/New Zealand since 2009.
• Comprehensive annual assessments, brief follow-ups, in-vehicle data recording, and driving record analysis (crashes, violations).

Main Results:

• The study protocol has demonstrated good adherence with 1230 participants enrolled.
• Ongoing data collection is assessing driving patterns, at-fault crashes per kilometer, and traffic violations.
• Barriers and challenges are being actively managed to ensure study integrity.

Conclusions:

• The Candrive II/Ozcandrive study is a large-scale, long-duration international collaboration.
• The findings will inform the development of a practical screening tool for clinicians.
• This research aims to enhance road safety by identifying older drivers needing further assessment.