Participants needed for cognitive driving research
People aged between 60 and 90 years are invited to participate in a research study assessing cognitive driving abilities, which PhD candidate Samantha Ellis tells AAA will hopefully allow for the development of a screening tool.
A research team from the University of the Sunshine Coast is seeking older drivers to participate in a new trial that measures age-related changes in attention.
Currently there are no standardised assessment tools available to general practitioners or other health practitioners to help assess cognitive fitness to drive and one of the broader goals of the MAIC/UniSC Road Safety Research Collaboration is to develop better tools to do so.
This study in particular is helping inform that tool, said PhD candidate at the Motor Accident Insurance Commission/UniSC Road Safety Research Collaboration Samantha Ellis.
She told Australian Ageing Agenda that focus on the road is important for safe driving, but it is also important to understand the way cognitive functions and attentional abilities change as people age.
These changes are natural, she added, but the experience is not linear and varies between individuals.
“So with this research study, we’re aiming to examine that relationship between both attention and healthy ageing, and then driving performance in older adults,” she said.
To do this, the research team will measure the brain activity of eligible participants with an EEG machine as they participate in computerised attention tasks followed by simulated driving.
Participants must be aged 60-90 years and able to attend one appointment at the UniSC Sippy Downs campus in Queensland to be eligible.
The results will be compared to a control group of drivers under the age of 30 who have at least three years of driving experience.
“Unlike standard cognitive tests, the EEG will allow us to measure brain activity associated with attention in real-time,” said Ms Ellis.
“This will allow us to better understand how the measured brain activity relates to driving performance.”
The research also hopes to show whether compensatory behaviours have a place in maintaining safety, which senior research fellow Dr Kayla Stefanidis said was crucial for informing the development of tools to assess cognitive fitness to drive.
Dr Stefanidis said the development of a cognitive screening tool would help GPs and other health professionals to accurately identify if an older person needed further testing.
“It could also reduce costly and unnecessary assessments in older adults who do not require them,” she added.
Another benefit for older adults is that they can avoid tests when they don’t require them.
“We understand that cognitive changes can happen at different time points. This isn’t a linear process that once somebody hits a certain age, they will experience that cognitive change, and so we want to make sure that we both understand that level of cognitive change that somebody has – so we can keep older drivers that are cognitively fit to drive on the road for longer. We also want to ensure that we’re not conducting these assessments in older adults who do not require them,” Ms Ellis said.
“Tools that are developed to accurately assess that cognitive fitness to drive can help us do that.”
Individuals interested in participating can find more information on eligibility here or can reach out to the research team directly at ADS@usc.edu.au.
Are you seeking participants or looking to get the word out about your research project relevant to aged care or older people? Send us the details and an image to editorial@australianageingagenda.com.au
