Association between car accidents and falls among community-dwelling older drivers

Abstract

【Aim】 This study aimed to examine the association between car accident history and fall history among community-dwelling older drivers.【Methods】 A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 602 older drivers (mean age: 72.8 ± 5.6 years, women: 50.0%) who participated in the regional cohort study (Tarumizu Research 2018, 2019) and were driving at 65 years or older. For car accident history, we listened to their accident history for the past two years and classified it into “accident history” and “no accident history.” The fall history was classified into “with fall history” and “no fall history” based on the presence or absence of falls in the past year. In the statistical analysis, a binomial logistic regression analysis was performed with accident history as the dependent variable, fall history as the independent variable, and age and sex as the covariates.【Results】 It was found that 5.6% of the subjects had a history of car accidents, and 13.0% had a history of falls. Among those with a history of car accidents, a significantly higher percentage of people had a history of falls than among those with no history of car accidents (p = 0.003). The logistic regression analysis showed that having a history of falls was significantly associated with having a history of car accidents (odds ratio: 3.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.42–6.85, p = 0.004).【Conclusions】 The results suggested an association between a history of car accidents and a history of falls among community-dwelling older drivers.