Driving status and health-related quality of life among the oldest old: a population-based examination using data from the AgeCoDe-AgeQualiDe prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: It is almost unknown whether the driving status is associated with HRQOL among individuals in highest age.

AIMS: Based on a multicenter prospective cohort study, the objective of this study was to examine whether the driving status is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among the oldest old in Germany.

METHODS: Cross-sectional data from follow-up wave 9 (n = 544) were derived from the "Study on Needs, health service use, costs and health-related quality of life in a large sample of oldest-old primary care patients (85+)" (AgeQualiDe). Average age was 90.3 years (± 2.7; 86 to 101 years). The current driver status (no; yes) was used in our analysis. The EuroQoL EQ-5D questionnaire was used to assess HRQOL in this study.

RESULTS: Regression analysis showed that being a current driver was associated with the absence of problems in 'self-care' [OR 0.41 (95%-CI 0.17 to 0.98)], and 'usual activities' [OR 0.48 (0.26 to 0.90)], whereas it was not significantly associated with problems in 'pain/discomfort' [OR 0.82 (0.47 to 1.45)] and 'anxiety/depression' [OR 0.71 (0.36 to 1.39)]. Being a current driver was marginally significantly associated with the absence of problems in 'mobility' [OR 0.60 (0.34 to 1.06)]. While being a current driver was not associated with the EQ-VAS in the main model, it was positively associated with the driving status (β = 5.00, p < .05) when functional impairment was removed from the main model.

DISCUSSION: Our findings provide first evidence for an association between driving status and HRQOL among the oldest old.

CONCLUSIONS: Future longitudinal studies are required to evaluate a possible causal relationship between driving status and HRQOL in very old individuals.