scholarly journals Speed Management Across Road Environments of Varying Complexities and Self-Regulation Behaviors in Drivers with Cataract

Author(s):  
Sonia Ortiz-Peregrina ◽  
Carolina Ortiz ◽  
Francesco Martino ◽  
Miriam Casares-López ◽  
José J Castro-Torres ◽  
...  

Abstract Evidence suggests that drivers with cataract self-regulate their driving, but there is a lack of objective information. This study compared speed behavior in older drivers with and without cataract and how the parameter is influenced by road traffic complexity and driver characteristics. The study included 15 drivers with cataract and a control group of 20 drivers. Visual status was assessed using visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and intraocular straylight. Speed management was studied using a driving simulator. Driving difficulty and self-regulation patterns were evaluated by means of the Driver Habits Questionnaire (DHQ). The cataract group showed a significant decrease in visual function in all the parameters evaluated (p<0.05). These drivers tended to drive at lower speeds than the control group. Road characteristics, gender, and intraocular straylight in the better eye were identified as significant predictors of speed management. Drivers with cataract experience greater driving difficulty, particularly when driving at night (p<0.05). Drivers with cataract reduce their driving speed more than older drivers without visual impairment. The straylight parameter may be a good indicator of each driver’s subjective perception of their own visual ability to drive. This work helps shed light on the mechanisms through which age-related visual impairment influences driving behavior.

Author(s):  
Sonia Ortiz-Peregrina ◽  
Carolina Ortiz ◽  
Miriam Casares-López ◽  
José J. Castro-Torres ◽  
Luis Jiménez del Barco ◽  
...  

Aging leads to impaired visual function, which can affect driving—a very visually demanding task—and has a direct impact on an individual’s quality of life if their license is withdrawn. This study examined the associations between age-related vision changes and simulated driving performance. To this end, we attempted to determine the most significant visual parameters in terms of evaluating elderly drivers’ eyesight. Twenty-one younger drivers (aged 25–40) were compared to 21 older drivers (aged 56–71). Study participants were assessed for visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, halos, and intraocular straylight, which causes veiling luminance on the retina and degrades vision. Driving performance was evaluated using a driving simulator. The relationships between simulated driving performance and the visual parameters tested were examined with correlation analyses and linear regression models. Older drivers presented impairment in most visual parameters (p < 0.05), with straylight being the most significantly affected (we also measured the associated effect size). Older drivers performed significantly worse (p < 0.05) in the simulator test, with a markedly lower performance in lane stability. The results of the multiple linear regression model evidenced that intraocular straylight is the best visual parameter for predicting simulated driving performance (R2 = 0.513). Older drivers have shown significantly poorer results in several aspects of visual function, as well as difficulties in driving simulator performance. Our results suggest that the non-standardized straylight evaluation could be significant in driver assessments, especially at the onset of age-related vision changes.


Author(s):  
Craig Schneider ◽  
Foroogh Hajiseyedjavadi ◽  
Jingyi Zhang ◽  
Matthew Romoser ◽  
Siby Samuel ◽  
...  

Older drivers are overrepresented in intersection crashes primarily because they fail to scan for potential threat vehicles after they enter a stop-controlled intersection. Existing simulator-based older driver training programs double the frequency of secondary glances that older drivers take up to two years after training. However, the simulator sickness dropout rate for this training is 40%. Two contributing factors to simulator sickness are 1) configuration of the driving simulator, and 2) duration of continuous simulator training. In this experiment, 91 older drivers were assigned to one of five groups: 3 simulator training groups, one passive training group, and one control group. Simulator training sessions were broken into segments of only 30-45 s in length. The effectiveness of the training was evaluated in the field. The most effective training was on a 3 screen simulator which doubled the frequency of secondary glances in the field and reduced simulator drop-out rates to 14.3%.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e037028
Author(s):  
Chi Chin Sun ◽  
Ting-Shuo Huang ◽  
Tsai-Sheng Fu ◽  
Chia-Yi Lee ◽  
Bing-Yu Chen ◽  
...  

ObjectivesVisual impairment is an important risk factor for fracture in the elderly population. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in elderly people. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between AMD and incident fractures in patients with osteoporosis (OS).DesignRetrospective analysis of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).SettingA multicenter study conducted in Taiwan.Participants and controlsThe current study used the NHIRD in Taiwan between 1996 and 2011. A total of 13 584 and 54 336 patients with OS were enrolled in the AMD group and the non-AMD group, respectively.InterventionPatients with OS were included from the Taiwan’s NHIRD after exclusion, and each patient with AMD was matched for age, sex and comorbidities to four patients with non-AMD OS, who served as the control group. A Cox proportional hazard model was used for the multivariable analysis.Primary outcome measuresTransitions for OS to spine fracture, OS to hip fracture, OS to humero-radio-ulnar fracture and OS to death.ResultsThe risks of spine and hip fractures were significantly higher in the AMD group (HR=1.09, 95% CI=1.04 to 1.15, p<0.001; HR=1.18; 95% CI=1.08 to 1.30, p=0.001, respectively) than in the non-AMD group. The incidence of humero-radio-ulnar fracture between AMD and non-AMD individuals was similar (HR=0.98; 95% CI=0.90 to 1.06; p=0.599). However, the risk of death was higher in patients with OS with older age, male sex and all types of comorbidity (p<0.05), except for hyperthyroidism (p=0.200).ConclusionPatients with OS with AMD had a greater risk of spine and hip fractures than did patients without AMD.


Author(s):  
Oleksandra Krasnova ◽  
Brett Molesworth ◽  
Ann Williamson

The aim of the present study was to empirically investigate the effect of various types of feedback on young novice drivers’ speed management behavior. One hundred young drivers, randomly allocated to five groups, completed three test drives using a computer-based driving simulator. For four groups, feedback was provided after an 11km drive and focused on speeding behavior, the safety implications of speeding or the financial penalties if caught speeding or all three. The fifth group was a no-feedback control. Driver speed management performance was examined in two 11km drives immediately following the receipt of feedback and one week post feedback. The results showed that all types of Feedback were effective in improving young drivers’ speed management behavior compared to the control group. Providing feedback about financial implications of speeding was found to be the best in improving young drivers’ speed management behavior across all tested conditions. These findings have important implications for the development of a new approach to improve young drivers’ speed management behavior.


Author(s):  
Craig A. Schneider ◽  
Foroogh Hajiseyedjavadi ◽  
Francis Tainter ◽  
Michael Knodler ◽  
Jingyi Zhang ◽  
...  

Older drivers remain overrepresented in intersection crashes. Previous evidence suggests that the primary reason for this lies with their lack of scanning for potential threat vehicles while entering stop-controlled intersections. More so, secondary glances prove critical when the conditions obscure potential threat vehicles while approaching the intersection. Currently, simulator-based older driver training programs have proven effective in increasing the frequency of secondary glances taken by older drivers up to 2 years following the training. However, both the need for a full-scale driving simulator and participant dropout rates because of simulator sickness within training programs continue to limit the applicability of these alternatives. This study used a series of micro-scenarios to train older drivers in secondary glances, thus reducing the potential for participant dropouts resulting from simulator sickness. In addition, driver immersion levels varied across multiple training platforms, ranging from low to medium. A total of 91 participants between 67 and 86 years old were assigned to one of five groups. Three groups were provided active, secondary glance training on a driving simulator (one on a low immersion simulator and two on medium immersion simulators), a fourth group was provided passive training using a PowerPoint presentation, and the last group was a control with no training. Following training, all participants were evaluated in their personal vehicles while wearing head-mounted cameras. The medium immersion group resulted in the highest percentage of secondary glances (82%), whereas the control group resulted in the lowest percentage (42%). The results provide evidence to suggest that the training programs using micro-scenarios in medium and low immersion simulators can increase the frequency of secondary glances without having high dropout rates caused by simulator sickness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 864-872
Author(s):  
Fernanda Borowsky da Rosa ◽  
Adriane Schmidt Pasqualoto ◽  
Catriona M. Steele ◽  
Renata Mancopes

Introduction The oral cavity and pharynx have a rich sensory system composed of specialized receptors. The integrity of oropharyngeal sensation is thought to be fundamental for safe and efficient swallowing. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are at risk for oropharyngeal sensory impairment due to frequent use of inhaled medications and comorbidities including gastroesophageal reflux disease. Objective This study aimed to describe and compare oral and oropharyngeal sensory function measured using noninstrumental clinical methods in adults with COPD and healthy controls. Method Participants included 27 adults (18 men, nine women) with a diagnosis of COPD and a mean age of 66.56 years ( SD = 8.68). The control group comprised 11 healthy adults (five men, six women) with a mean age of 60.09 years ( SD = 11.57). Spirometry measures confirmed reduced functional expiratory volumes (% predicted) in the COPD patients compared to the control participants. All participants completed a case history interview and underwent clinical evaluation of oral and oropharyngeal sensation by a speech-language pathologist. The sensory evaluation explored the detection of tactile and temperature stimuli delivered by cotton swab to six locations in the oral cavity and two in the oropharynx as well as identification of the taste of stimuli administered in 5-ml boluses to the mouth. Analyses explored the frequencies of accurate responses regarding stimulus location, temperature and taste between groups, and between age groups (“≤ 65 years” and “> 65 years”) within the COPD cohort. Results We found significantly higher frequencies of reported use of inhaled medications ( p < .001) and xerostomia ( p = .003) in the COPD cohort. Oral cavity thermal sensation ( p = .009) was reduced in the COPD participants, and a significant age-related decline in gustatory sensation was found in the COPD group ( p = .018). Conclusion This study found that most of the measures of oral and oropharyngeal sensation remained intact in the COPD group. Oral thermal sensation was impaired in individuals with COPD, and reduced gustatory sensation was observed in the older COPD participants. Possible links between these results and the use of inhaled medication by individuals with COPD are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lautenbach

BACKGROUND Dealing with stress is of central importance. Lately, smartphone applications (apps) are deployed in stress interventions as they offer maximal flexibility for users. First results of experimental studies show that anti-stress apps effect subjective perception of stress positively (Ly et al., 2014). However, current literature lacks studies on physiological stress reactions (e.g., cortisol), although they are of special interest to health issues. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an anti-stress app in chronic and acute stress reduction on a physiological (cortisol) and psychological level (subjective perception of stress) in comparison to a face-to-face and a control group in a pre-post design, for the first time. METHODS Sixty-two participants took part in the pretesting procedure (drop-out of 53 %). Based on age, gender, physical activity and subjectively perceived acute stress due to the Trier Social Stress Test for groups (TSST-G; von Dawans et al., 2011) as well as based on subjectively chronic stress assessed during the pretest, participants were parallelized in three groups (anti-stress-app: n = 10, face-to-face: n = 11, control group: n = 9). RESULTS After six weeks of the cognitive-based resource-oriented intervention, participants were exposed to the TSST-G for post testing. Results did not show a change of cortisol secretion or cognitive appraisal of the acute stressor. Further, no changes were detected in the chronic physiological stress reaction. CONCLUSIONS Possible causes are discussed extensively. CLINICALTRIAL no


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Krytkowska ◽  
Aleksandra Grabowicz ◽  
Katarzyna Mozolewska-Piotrowska ◽  
Zofia Ulańczyk ◽  
Krzysztof Safranow ◽  
...  

AbstractDisturbances in choroidal microcirculation may lead to the onset and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We aimed to assess changes in the choroidal volume and thickness in the macular region in AMD eyes and to investigate whether coexisting vascular risk factors alter choroidal status. We enrolled 354 AMD patients (175 dry, 179 wet AMD) and 121 healthy controls. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination and assessment of choroidal thickness and volume. A multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, and smoking status revealed that wet AMD was an independent factor associated with higher average thickness of the central ring area (ATC) and average volume of the central ring area (AVC) and lower choroidal vascularity index (CVI) compared to controls (β =  + 0.18, p = 0.0007, β =  + 0.18, p = 0.0008, respectively) and to dry AMD (β =  + 0.17, p = 0.00003 for both ATC and AVC and β =  − 0.30 p < 0.0001 for CVI). ATC, AVC and average volume (AV) were lower in AMD patients with hypertension and ischaemic heart disease (IHD). The duration of hypertension was inversely correlated with ATC, AVC and AV (Rs =  − 0.13, p < 0.05; Rs =  − 0.12; p < 0.05, Rs =  − 0.12; p < 0.05, respectively) while IHD duration negatively correlated with AV (Rs =  − 0.15, p < 0.05). No such associations were observed in the control group. Our findings show that the choroidal vascular system in eyes with AMD is much more susceptible to damage in the presence than in the absence of systemic vascular disease.


Author(s):  
Laurence Paire-Ficout ◽  
Sylviane Lafont ◽  
Marion Hay ◽  
Amandine Coquillat ◽  
Colette Fabrigoule ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Many older drivers incorrectly estimate their driving ability. The present study aimed to determine whether, and if so, to what extent unawareness of cognitive abilities affects self-awareness of driving ability. Methods Two successive studies were conducted. A cohort study investigated cognitive self-awareness and an experimental study examined driving self-awareness in older drivers. In each one, self-awareness was assessed by cross-analyzing objective (respectively Trail-Making Tests A & B and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test and driving performance of on-road assessment) and subjective data (responses about everyday cognitive skills and driving ability). Older drivers were then classified as being over-, correct or underestimators. The three cognitive and driving self-awareness profiles were then cross-analyzed. Results In the cohort study, 1,190 drivers aged 70 years or older were included. The results showed that 42.7% of older drivers overestimated their cognitive ability, 42.2% estimated it correctly, and 15.1% underestimated it. The experimental study included 145 participants from the cohort. The results showed that 34% of participants overestimated, 45% correctly estimated, and 21 % underestimated their driving ability. There was a significant relationship between cognitive and driving self-awareness profiles (p=0,02). This overlap was more marked in overestimators. Discussion Significant overlap between cognitive and driving self-awareness provides useful and new knowledge about driving in the aging population. Misestimation of cognitive ability could hamper self-awareness of driving ability, and consequently self-regulation of driving. It is now crucial to develop measures that promote self-awareness of ability.


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