Affiliations: [a]
National Institute of Dementia, Seongnam, South Korea
| [b] Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea
| [c] School of Nursing, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| [d] Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| [e] Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, South Korea
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Ki Woong Kim, MD, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 13494, South Korea. Tel.: +82 31 787 7432; Fax: +82 31 787 4058; E-mail: kwkimmd@snu.ac.kr.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: Over 40% of people with dementia drive, with a two to five times greater accident risk than controls. This has fueled public concerns about the risk of traffic accidents by drivers with dementia (DWD). We compared driving regulations on seniors and DWD between ten European and Asia-Pacific countries to identify key implications for national strategies. Moderate to severe dementia was a reason for driver’s license revocation in all countries. However, regulations on mild dementia varied considerably, with most basing their decisions on severity, rather than simply the presence of dementia. Most used validated assessments, but responsibility for triggering the administrative process fell on drivers in some countries and on physicians in others. Administrations should consider the following when developing driving policies: 1) ideal regulations on DWD should ensure that restrictions are implemented only when needed; 2) fitness to drive should be assessed using validated instruments; 3) the use of processes that automatically initiate driving competency examinations following a diagnosis of dementia should be explored; and 4) restrictions should be delicately tailored to a range of driving competence levels, and assistive incentives compensating for lost driving privileges should be provided.
