Research to Advance Real World Knowledge for Driving Safety
By Barbara R. Fallon
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are currently recruiting 750 drivers over 65 years old to enroll in a 3-year confidential study of memory and driving behaviors. Participants will have an initial baseline cognitive function screening and driving behavior profile established and then normal driving patterns will be tracked by inconspicuous in-vehicle sensors and evaluated every three months for three years (13 data points) to correlate thinking, memory, and judgement with driving behavior.
PhD, MSN, MBA, RN
According to Project Coordinator, Laurie Martinez, PhD, MSN, MBA, RN, a certificate of confidentiality certifies that only the research team has access to the results and that personal data cannot be released to law enforcement, insurance companies, department of motor vehicles or family members unless authorized by the individual participants.
There is no cost to senior participants who must have a valid driver’s license, lease or own a car, and speak English or Spanish. It will require regular meetings with researchers (over three years) to collect the data and participant input. Seniors will receive up to $350 in gift cards from Publix, Walmart and Amazon for their time and opinion of in-vehicle sensor satisfaction. They can opt to receive annual feedback on their cognitive screening or leave the study at any time.
This cutting-edge research, funded by a $5.3 million National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health grant, will support experts from FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, collaborating with the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science to merge healthcare and technology in a study of senior memory and driving behaviors. The study is designed to formulate a low cost early warning system of mild cognitive changes and their impact on driving by monitoring attention, orientation and judgement during normal driving.
The In-vehicle Sensors to Detect Cognitive Change in Older Drivers project is a 5-year longitudinal study that will sync data collected through inconspicuous cameras and GPS modems that sense and record motion and orientation detection, vision, driver eye movements, and driving scene awareness. Researchers will track and record driving behaviors such as travel patterns to account for miles driven during the day and night as well as number of trips; abnormal driving such as getting lost, losing focus, and near-collision events; reaction time when stopping at a stop sign or traffic light; and braking patterns; as well as ignoring traffic signals. Data will take into account weather and other factors that may influence driving patterns. Recorded changes in driver behavior will be compared with results from a panel of cognitive tests including global cognition, executive function, memory, visuospatial, visual attention, and language selected for both sensitivity to early subtle changes in cognition in order to set a baseline for driver risk according to age, sex and model of car.
“This groundbreaking study is designed to detect subtle changes that may indicate changes in cognition” Dr. Martinez said.
Lead investigator, Ruth Tappen, RN, EdD, FAAN, and co-lead David Newman, PhD, are heading the research effort with an interdisciplinary team of experts collaborating from the fields of engineering, computer science, neurology, psychology, cognitive testing, on-road driver testing, memory and wellness.
Dr. Tappen is an expert gerontologist with extensive experience in dementia research and a professor and Eminent Scholar in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing; while Dr. Newman is an associate professor and a statistician in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.
Research indicates that 33% of drivers have some level of cognitive decline and 50% of those continue to drive after a diagnosis of dementia.
Concern for traffic safety and opportunity to detect early cognitive change in the health of older drivers, who represent a significant population, is the genesis of this groundbreaking research, according to Dr. Tappen. Algorithms will be developed by the team to translate and sync driving behavior with indices of cognitive change that will contribute to real world applications. The end goal is to develop an early warning alert for older drivers with evidence-based data collection.
Dr. Newman noted that current screening and evaluation services are only able to test a small number of individuals with cognitive concerns, missing many who need to know if they require treatment. Now, researchers also will evaluate the end users’ response to the novel driving sensors installed and propose improvements to increase acceptability by older drivers.
“Fully powered, long-term tests of an array of sensors to determine the ability to detect cognitive change, examine what changes are detected and which sensor data is most sensitive to these changes has the potential to advance current science and improve quality of public health and safety,” he said.
Dean of FAU’s College of Nursing Safiya George, PhD, agrees, “This research has the potential to shift the paradigm in cognitive evaluation of older adults to facilitate earlier detection of cognitive changes that have real-world application and impact public health and driving safety.”
Regular sensor data downloads, cognitive screenings and participant input will be conducted and analyzed at FAU Boca Raton and Davie campuses over a 3-year period. The study is open to the community residents and can accommodate regular winter visitor schedules.
To join or ask questions, call Dr. Laurie Martinez at (845) 705-8982, email drivingproject@health.fau.edu or visit https://nursing.fau.edu/research/grants/.
