Development and validation of a vision and night driving questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Gerontology
• Human Factors Engineering

Background:

• Night-time driving poses significant challenges for older adults and individuals with visual impairments.
• Assessing vision-related difficulties during night driving is crucial for driver safety and independence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable questionnaire for assessing vision-related night driving difficulties in older drivers.
• To create a psychometrically sound instrument for clinical and research applications.

Main Methods:

• Developed a questionnaire using items from existing vision and driving studies.
• Administered to 283 older drivers reporting night driving difficulties.
• Utilized Rasch analysis for scale development and validation, assessing unidimensionality, validity, and reliability.
• Examined associations with demographic factors, self-rated vision, and eye conditions using regression models.
• Assessed test-retest repeatability using intra-class correlation and Bland-Altman methods.

Main Results:

• The nine-item Vision and Night Driving Questionnaire (VND-Q) demonstrated unidimensionality, validity, and reliability with excellent discriminant ability.
• Participants with eye conditions and poorer self-rated vision reported significantly higher night driving difficulties.
• Females and those driving shorter distances at night reported greater difficulties.
• Excellent test-retest repeatability was confirmed (repeatability coefficient = 2.07).

Conclusions:

• The nine-item VND-Q is a valid and reliable tool for quantifying vision-related night driving difficulties in older adults.
• This questionnaire serves as a valuable instrument for guiding clinical investigations, referrals, and interventions.
• The VND-Q supports the assessment of visual challenges impacting older drivers' safety and mobility at night.