{"title":"Spatial navigation ability and gaze switching in older drivers: A driving simulator study.","authors":"Masafumi Kunishige, Hiroshi Fukuda, Tadayuki Iida, Nami Kawabata, Chinami Ishizuki, Hideki MIyaguchi","doi":"10.1177/1569186118823872","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Driving ability in older people is affected by declining motor, cognitive and visual functions. We compared perceptual and cognitive skills and driving behaviour in a Japanese population.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used a driving simulator to measure the effects of spatial navigation skills and eye movements on driving ability. Participants were 34 older and 20 young adults who completed a simulated driving task involving a lane change and a right turn at an intersection. We used an eye tracker to measure gaze. We measured visual recognition (Benton Judgment of Line Orientation Test (BJLO)), spatial navigation (Card-Placing Test (CPT A & B)), visual perception (Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM)) and driving ability (Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Older participants scored significantly lower on the BJLO, CPT-A & B and RCPM, showed a significant correlation between gaze time and CPT-A & B scores (both p < .01) and had a longer gaze time. There were significant between-group differences in saccade switching (p < .01 right turn), distance per saccade (p < .05 for right turn and lane change) and saccade total distance (p < .05 right turn; p < .01 lane change). There was an association between age and rate of gaze at the right door mirror (p = 0.04).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings indicate that older drivers have poorer eye movement control and spatial navigation. This is likely to result in delayed responses and difficulties in predicting the on-coming driving environment. Driving simulation could help older drivers in their driving abilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":73249,"journal":{"name":"Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOT","volume":"32 1","pages":"22-31"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1569186118823872","citationCount":"16","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOT","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1569186118823872","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2019/2/21 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 16
Abstract
Objective: Driving ability in older people is affected by declining motor, cognitive and visual functions. We compared perceptual and cognitive skills and driving behaviour in a Japanese population.
Methods: We used a driving simulator to measure the effects of spatial navigation skills and eye movements on driving ability. Participants were 34 older and 20 young adults who completed a simulated driving task involving a lane change and a right turn at an intersection. We used an eye tracker to measure gaze. We measured visual recognition (Benton Judgment of Line Orientation Test (BJLO)), spatial navigation (Card-Placing Test (CPT A & B)), visual perception (Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM)) and driving ability (Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment).
Results: Older participants scored significantly lower on the BJLO, CPT-A & B and RCPM, showed a significant correlation between gaze time and CPT-A & B scores (both p < .01) and had a longer gaze time. There were significant between-group differences in saccade switching (p < .01 right turn), distance per saccade (p < .05 for right turn and lane change) and saccade total distance (p < .05 right turn; p < .01 lane change). There was an association between age and rate of gaze at the right door mirror (p = 0.04).
Conclusion: The findings indicate that older drivers have poorer eye movement control and spatial navigation. This is likely to result in delayed responses and difficulties in predicting the on-coming driving environment. Driving simulation could help older drivers in their driving abilities.