| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
Outcomes of Oregon’s Law Mandating Physician Reporting of Impaired DriversPortland VA Medical Center, and Oregon Health and Science University, snyderk{at}ohsu.edu
Portland VA Medical Center, and Oregon Health and Science University Oregon enacted a law in 2002 that requires some health care practitioners to report cognitively impaired drivers to the Department of Motor Vehicles. We examined reports submitted between 2003 and 2006 on 1664 potential impaired drivers. Of reported drivers, 48% were older than 80 years of age. Reports of cognitive impairment were 7 times more common than functional impairments. The most common cognitive impairments were judgment and problem solving (65%), memory (53%), and reaction time (52%). Only 10% of suspended drivers regained their driving privileges. Drivers older than 80 years of age were 6 times less likely to regain privileges compared to drivers 59 years or younger. In summary, Oregon’s law resulted in loss of driving privileges in a small number of licensed drivers. Over half were aged 80 years or older, with chronic or progressive cognitive impairments. Further study is needed to determine whether this law reduces crashes and crash-related fatalities.
Key Words: driving • elderly • impairment • physician • reporting
This version was published on September
1, 2009 Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, Vol. 22, No. 3,
161-165 (2009) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
 |
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
