2010 BC Guide in Determining Fitness to Drive

Appendix 3: Aging DriversAbout aging driversAs with the general population in Canada, the driving population is aging.The functional declines associated with aging are well documented. Thesefunctional declines in healthy aging drivers are unlikely to lead to unsafedeclines in driving performance, except in the case of extreme old age.However, aging is also associated with increased risk for a broad range ofmedical conditions, such as visual impairments, musculoskeletal disorders,cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cognitive impairment and dementia.These medical conditions and medications used to treat them may affectfitness to drive.Although there are many age-associated medical conditions that mayaffect driving, there is a particularly strong association between cognitiveimpairment and dementia and impaired driving performance. A large,national population-based study done in Canada in 1991 showed that 25%of the population 65 and older have some form of cognitive impairment ordementia, rising to 70% for those 85 and older.Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70%65-7475-8485+Alzheimer’s Disease and Other DementiaCognitive ImpairmentDemographicsThe number of people in Canada over the age of 65 increased from 3.5million in 1996 to 4.2 million in 2006. By 2051, it is projected to be morethan 9 million.381