A survey of attitudes and knowledge of geriatricians to driving in elderly patients

Abstract

Objective: to assess the attitudes of consultant members of the British Geriatrics Society to elderly patients driving motor vehicles. Design: an anonymous postal survey assessing knowledge and attitudes to driving in elderly people. A standardized questionnaire was used and five case histories were offered for interpretation. Setting: the study was co-ordinated from a teaching hospital. Subjects: the 709 consultant members of the British Geriatrics Society. Four hundred and eighteen responses were obtained, which represents a 59% response rate. Results: 275 respondents (68%) correctly realised that a person aged 70 had a duty to inform the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) about their eligibility to drive. The remainder did not. Most (315; 75%) believed that the overall responsibility for informing the DVLA was with the patient. If a patient was incapable of understanding advice on driving because of advanced dementia, 346 (83%) would breach patient confidentiality and inform the authority directly. Where a patient was fully capable of understanding medical advice but ignored it, 72% of geriatricians would have legitimately breached patient confidentiality and informed the DVLA. Most geriatricians (88%) saw their main role as one of providing advice on driving to patients and their families. Enforcing DVLA regulations was not seen as an appropriate function, unless the patient was a danger to themselves or other drivers. Conclusions: there is a wide variation in knowledge of driving regulations and attitudes to driving in elderly patients. Better education of geriatricians should improve awareness of when elderly drivers can safely continue to drive.