Table 1.
Demographic and Health Characteristics of Older Drivers According to Frequent Fall Status at Baseline
| Characteristic | All Participants, N = 2,000 |
Frequent Faller, n = 174a |
Infrequent or Nonfaller, n = 1,826 |
P-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, n (%) | ||||
| 70–79 | 1,433 (71.7) | 113 (64.9) | 1,320 (72.3) | .01 |
| 80–89 | 527 (26.4) | 53 (30.5) | 474 (26.0) | |
| ≥90 | 40 (2.0) | 8 (4.6) | 32 (1.8) | |
| Age, mean ± SD | 77.2 ± 5.0 | 78.5 ± 5.6 | 77.1 ± 4.9 | .002 |
| Sex, n (%) | ||||
| Female | 870 (43.5) | 78 (44.8) | 792 (43.4) | .71 |
| Male | 1,130 (56.5) | 96 (55.2) | 1,034 (56.6) | |
| Race, n (%) | ||||
| African American | 360 (18.0) | 17 (9.8) | 343 (18.8) | .003 |
| White | 1,640 (82.0) | 157 (90.2) | 1,483 (81.2) | |
| Marital status, n (%) | ||||
| Married | 1,092 (54.6) | 98 (56.3) | 994 (54.4) | .63 |
| Not married | 908 (45.4) | 76 (43.7) | 832 (45.6) | |
| Education, n (%)b | ||||
| <high school | 632 (31.6) | 58 (33.3) | 574 (31.5) | .96 |
| High school or GED | 51 (2.6) | 4 (2.3) | 47 (2.6) | |
| 1–4 years of college | 1,018 (50.9) | 86 (49.4) | 932 (51.1) | |
| Postgraduate degree | 298 (14.9) | 26 (14.9) | 272 (14.9) | |
| Smoking status, n (%)c | ||||
| Never | 944 (47.3) | 81 (46.8) | 863 (47.4) | .99 |
| Former | 958 (48.0) | 84 (48.6) | 874 (48.0) | |
| Current | 93 (4.7) | 8 (4.6) | 85 (4.7) | |
| Alcohol use, drinks/week, n (%) | ||||
| 0 | 947 (47.4) | 88 (50.6) | 859 (47.0) | .57 |
| 1–7 | 856 (42.8) | 67 (38.5) | 789 (43.2) | |
| 8–13 | 120 (6.0) | 13 (7.5) | 107 (5.9) | |
| ≥14 | 77 (3.9) | 6 (3.5) | 71 (3.9) | |
| Number of medical conditions, n (%) | ||||
| 0–2 | 632 (31.6) | 30 (17.2) | 602 (33.0) | <.001 |
| 3–4 | 863 (43.2) | 57 (32.8) | 806 (44.1) | |
| ≥5 | 505 (25.3) | 87 (50.0) | 418 (22.9) | |
| Eye conditions, n (%) | ||||
| Cataract in one or both eyesb,d | 1,090 (54.5) | 79 (45.4) | 1,011 (55.4) | .01 |
| Glaucomab,d | 350 (17.5) | 29 (16.7) | 321 (17.6) | .76 |
| Diabetic retinopathy or diabetic macular edemad | 64 (3.2) | 8 (4.6) | 56 (3.1) | .27 |
| Age-related macular degenerationd | 343 (17.2) | 29 (16.7) | 314 (17.2) | .86 |
| Intraocular lense | ||||
| Both eyes | 725 (38.2) | 86 (50.3) | 639 (37.0) | .002 |
| One eye | 164 (8.6) | 14 (8.2) | 150 (8.7) | |
| MMSE score, n (%) | ||||
| >23 | 1,953 (97.7) | 170 (97.7) | 1,783 (97.7) | >.99 |
| ≤23 | 47 (2.4) | 4 (2.3) | 43 (2.4) | |
| MMSE score, mean ± SD | 28.2 ± 1.9 | 28.0 ± 2.0 | 28.2 ± 1.9 | .21 |
| Sleep medication use, n (%) | 240 (12.0) | 27 (15.5) | 213 (11.7) | .14 |
| Hearing impairment, n (%) | 650 (32.5) | 73 (42.0) | 577 (31.6) | .005 |
| Number of falls, n (%) | ||||
| 0 | 1,535 (76.8) | — | 1,535 (84.1) | <.001 |
| 1 | 291 (14.6) | — | 291 (15.9) | |
| 2 | 93 (4.7) | 93 (53.5) | — | |
| 3 | 35 (1.8) | 35 (20.1) | — | |
| 4 | 18 (0.9) | 18 (10.3) | — | |
| ≥5 | 28 (1.4) | 28 (16.1) | — |
SD = standard deviation; MMSE = Mini-Mental State Examination.
a
Falling ≥2 times in previous year.
b
N=1 missing data.
c
N = 5 missing data.
d
Includes self-report.
e
N=101 missing data.