2020 Volume 55 Issue 3 Pages 631-636
Japan is facing an ageing society with a declining birthrate, and the number of elderly people who are forced to drive is gradually increasing in rural areas with limited public transport resources. Every three years, Japanese local governments perform “ the survey of needs in spheres of daily life” as a survey for the daily life and functional health of elderly people (above 65 years old) when developing “Insured Long-Term Care Service Plans.” This study suggests that this survey could provide information about the current situations of driving by elderly people. One is, using logistic regression analysis, we would screen elderly people who are driving but should not drive guessed by their functional health status, named “watched drivers”. Another is, we would identify the following sequence of driving status with declining functional health states: 1) only driving on their own, 2) driving on their own with riding in a car by others (as potential “watched drivers”), 3) only riding in a car by others, and 4) not driving nor riding.
