Visual Difficulties Reported by Low-Vision and Nonimpaired Older Adult Drivers

Abstract

Nonimpaired and low-vision older adults responded to a questionnaire regarding the types of visual difficulties experienced while performing daily tasks and while driving. Using the factors produced from a factor analysis as predictors, a discriminant analysis was performed to determine whether significant differences in visual problems existed between the groups. The majority of participants reported that they currently required more time than in the past to perform tasks that depended on their vision, regardless of their visual status. All participants reported experiencing significant difficulties with static and dynamic acuity, peripheral vision, illumination problems, and contrast sensitivity. Both nonimpaired and low-vision older adult drivers reported experiencing difficulty with glare, peripheral vision, and night driving. Low-vision drivers reported experiencing unique difficulties with near acuity, distant acuity, and physical obstructions. Potential applications of this research include suggestions for redesigning automobiles and highway signs for safer use and viewing.

Valuation of active blind spot detection systems by younger and older adults

“…Similar to the factor analysis reported by McGregor & Chaparro (2005), vision-related items were found to load on five factors. After investigation of the factor loading of the individual items, these factors were given the following titles: “Factor 1: Visual Search and Light Adjustment” (36.39% of variance) described by items related to locating and reading a sign amongst many other signs and adjusting to changes in lighting quality, “Factor 2: Age-related Visual Difficulties” (8.39% of variance), described by items related to taking longer for visual tasks and dealing having difficulties with miscellaneous age-related visual difficulties (e.g., trouble reading cluttered, moving, or poorly lit text, trouble with contrast sensitivity and light adjustment) “Factor 3: Reduced Static Acuity” (7.25% of variance) described by items related to reading small print or material close up, “Factor 4: Glare and Challenging Reading Conditions” (6.47% of variance) described by items related to dealing with glare and reading moving material or in reading in poor lighting, and “Factor 5: Bumping into Objects in Periphery” (5.65% of variance) described by items related to bumping into things that were just outside your field of vision or that you should have seen.…”

“…The moderate to high communalities found in both factor analyses (vision factor analysis communalities averaged .641, ranged .402-.781; vision-driving factor analysis communalities averaged .577, ranged from .471-.767), the number of factors (5 for vision items, 6 for vision-driving items), and the ratio of variables per factor (18:5 for vision items, 18:6 for vision-driving items) suggest that while the data are not “well-conditioned” enough for reliable results with a sample size of 10, the sample size of 89 in the current study should be useful for exploratory purposes. Further, the factor structure resembles that obtained by McGregor and Chaparro (2005).…”

“…Following the analysis procedure previously described in the literature (Kline et al, 1992; McGregor & Chaparro, 2005), data from the 18 vision and 18 vision-driving items from the self-report survey was reduced using a separate exploratory factor analysis for each construct using principal components analysis and varimax rotation. It should be noted that the resulting factor scores are exploratory and should be interpreted with caution, as the sample size in the current study ( N = 89) is low.…”

How Accurate Are Older Drivers’ Judgments of the Effects of Headlight Glare on Acuity?

“…It is well documented that the visual problems that result from low levels of illumination can be particularly severe for older drivers (e.g., Owsley, Sekuler & Siemsen, 1983;Shinar & Schieber, 1991). Given the changing demographics and the aging of the population of drivers research into the visual performance of aging drivers has become increasingly important (McGregor & Chaparro, 2005). In this paper we explore the impact of headlight glare on older drivers' ability to see at night.…”

Voice interfaced vehicle user help

“…Digital media such as pictures, video and audio can now provide driver-relevant information, entertainment and productivity [1]. But multimedia information has also proven to be the source of major driver distraction since their interfaces are not optimized for driving performance [2][3] [4], inputs and outputs differ greatly between models [5], and these complications affect drivers increasingly as they age [6].…”