DEMENTIA AND DRIVING - AN ATTEMPT AT CONSENSUS

The number of older drivers in Sweden will be rapidly increasing durin g the next decades. A possible relationship exists between the increas ed relative crash risk of older drivers and the prevalence of age-rela ted diseases such as dementia. However, a clear-cut policy for evaluat ing driving competence in demented persons is still lacking. In recogn ition of this fact, the Swedish National Road Administration invited a group of researchers to formulate a consensus on the issue of driving and dementia. This consensus document is aimed at providing primary c are physicians with practical advice concerning the assessment of cogn itive status in relation to driving. Suggestions are based on a review of existing research and discuss the use of general and driving-speci fic sources of information available to the physician. Consensus was r eached on the statement that a diagnosis of moderate to severe dementi a precludes driving and that certain individuals with mild dementia sh ould be considered for a specialized assessment of their driving compe tence.