Driving habits of elderly steer research
Study tracks trips for early indicators of Alzheimer’s
ST. LOUIS — Last month, Jim Vogelsang took the longest road trip he’s ever taken in his 77 years.
He and his wife, Karen, climbed into their Honda pickup, left their St. Louis area home and drove more than 4,000 miles to tour five national parks in Utah.
Under the dashboard was a chip plugged into the vehicle’s computer system, sending bursts of data every 30 seconds to Washington University Medical Center. That’s where researchers are poring through the information collected from the vehicles of Vogelsang and other older adults to determine how driving habits change with age and with early indicators of Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia that affects 10 percent of people over age 65.
The 50 drivers in the study were tested for early signs of the disease at the beginning of the study and will continue to be monitored throughout the research. The results are not shared with the drivers, but the outcomes are used to compare those whose brains show early but not outward signs of Alzheimer’s against those who have normal results. Researchers hope to get up to 300 participants in the program and study their driving habits for a minimum of two years.
“Basically, if you get a group of people 65 and older, about 30 percent will have abnormal Alzheimer’s biomarkers,” said Catherine Roe, an associate professor leading the study through the medical center’s Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Although those markers in the brain often do not manifest themselves into the disease for 10 to 20 years, “does being normal or abnormal impact how people drive?” Roe said. Data serves as ‘bread crumbs’
The new driving study builds on work the university has done looking at how older adults respond behind the wheel. Before the chips were installed, researchers relied solely on motorists driving through a controlled course with a researcher in the passenger seat. But that set up has its downsides, Roe said.
“Drivers can be nervous, or on their best behavior,” Roe said. Capturing data as drivers typically go through their day is more effective in measuring changes, she said. Washington U. received a $5.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in August to expand the study, which started as a pilot program two years earlier.
Vogelsang said that he quickly forgot about the chip being in his truck and is confident the results it is capturing will help with the research and show there is no decline in his road skills.
“I’ve always thought I was a pretty good driver. I thought this would be a good chance to prove it,” said Vogelsang, a retired high school history teacher. “When the chip was first put in, I thought about it being there. But driving on this big trip for three weeks, I didn’t once think about doing 80 (mph) and wondering what the chip thinks about that.”
Ganesh Babulal, a postdoctoral research associate in the neurology department, said the data serve as “bread crumbs” along the path drivers take, allowing researchers to know the exact route every time the ignition is turned on.
The chip is commonly used by companies with fleets of vehicles to monitor driver habits and measure fuel efficiency. And by parents who want to keep tabs on their teens. Driving impacts autonomy
The data Washington U. receives are date-stamped and provides the car’s location based on pings sent from cellphone towers. The longitude and latitude readings allow researchers to determine the speed limit at each location and match that against the speed of the driver. The chips also can determine when a vehicle is veering into other lanes or off the road.
“Lane deviation is an early sign of change in behavior,” Babulal said.
Sudden stops and starts are captured, as are collisions. Over time, the information paints a detailed picture of driving habits, including number of trips taken and miles per trip.
Roe said the ultimate goal is that after a few years, the data collected can help researchers come up with a way to intervene as driving habits decline so that older adults can stay on the road safely and for a longer time.
“If we could give someone who’s 70 another 10 years of driving safely, that could really impact his or her autonomy and well-being,” Rose said.