Older adults who are at risk of driving under the influence: A latent class analysis

Despite increasing rates of substance use among older adults, their risk of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (DUI) has received scant research attention. This study identified DUI risk profiles among individuals aged 50+ years based on their substance use patterns, previous DUI incidents, and previous arrests. This study's analytic sample of 11,188 individuals came from the public use data sets of the 2008 to 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Latent class analysis identified a 4-class model as the most parsimonious. Class 1 (63% of the analytic sample; lowest risk group) exhibited the lowest probabilities of substance use and trouble with law while Class 4 (9% of the sample; highest risk group) included binge/heavy drinkers who are also likely to use illicit drugs and had the highest probabilities of self-reported DUI and previous arrests. Class 2 (18.5%) and Class 3 (9.5%) exhibited low-to-medium DUI risks. Class 4 had the highest proportions of Blacks and divorced or never married persons and had lowest education and income, poorest self-rated health, and highest rates of mental health problems of all classes. Screening for substance abuse and comorbid mental health conditions should be included in protocols for assessing older adults' driving safety. More effort is also needed to improve access to substance abuse treatment and address mental health problems among older adults at high risk for DUI.