Driving Cessation in Patients Attending a Young-Onset Dementia Clinic: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Although driving by persons with dementia is an important public health concern, little is known about driving cessation in younger people with dementia. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors affecting driving cessation in individuals with and without dementia aged under 65 years attending a memory clinic in a European setting.

Subjects were consecutive patients assessed at a specialist memory service at a university teaching hospital between 2000 and 2010. The data collected included demographic, clinical, standardized cognitive assessments as well as information on driving. Dementia diagnosis was made using ICD-10 criteria.

Of the 225 people who were or had been drivers, 32/79 (41%) with young-onset dementia (YOD) stopped driving compared to 25/146 (17%) patients who had cognitive impairment due to other causes. Women were more likely to cease driving and voluntarily than men (p < 0.001). Diagnosis of YOD was associated with driving cessation (1.193, 95% CI 0.570-1.815, p ≤ 0.001), and was mediated by impairment in praxis with the highest indirect mediation effect (0.754, 95% CI 0.183-1.401, p = 0.009).

YOD diagnosis, female gender, and impairment in praxis have a higher probability for driving cessation in those under 65 years of age with cognitive impairment.