Screening Driving Risk with the DriveSafe DriveAware : Application in Telehealth

With an aging population living longer with diverse medical conditions, screening tools to measure driving risk are needed. The use of virtually administered screening tools has the potential to improve access to medical or rehabilitation services for individuals. This study compared 50 community living older adults with driver’s licenses on their performance using the app DriveSafe DriveAware under two clinician-administered conditions. All participants were randomly assigned to complete one administration in-person using a touchscreen tablet and the other by verbal responses via a virtual connection with a clinician. Using the intraclass correlation coefficient, it was 0.65 (95% Confidence Interval = 0.45 − 0.78); the two types of administration demonstrated moderate agreement with no order or gender effects. Normal aging differences were evident, but within the non-risk category. These results suggest that practitioners can use scores from the DriveSafe DriveAware regardless of administration in-person or through a virtual means of communication. However, caution should be used until further research with medically-at-risk drivers is completed.