Effects of Hearing Impairment on Driving Exposure and Patterns Among a Large Cohort of Older Drivers: AAA LongROAD Study
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Summary
This research brief examines how hearing impairment, both alone and in combination with cognitive and visual deficits, influences the driving exposure and patterns of older adults. Motivated by the elevated crash risk per mile driven among older drivers due to declining sensory and cognitive abilities, the study aims to provide objective data on how these functional declines affect real-world driving behaviors. Specifically, it investigates whether hearing loss leads to self-regulation, such as avoiding complex driving scenarios, and how it interacts with other impairments. The study utilized data from the AAA Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study, a multisite prospective cohort involving 2,046 participants aged 65 to 79 enrolled across five U.S. locations. Data collection included questionnaires, in-person clinical assessments, and continuous GPS datalogger tracking. The analysis focused on the first 12 months of driving data to account for seasonality. Hearing impairment was measured using three metrics: self-reported hearing aid use, self-rated hearing quality, and the objective Whisper Voice Test. Covariates included age, demographics, visual acuity (LogMAR), cognitive function (Trail Making Test Part B), and physical function. The dependent variables were objective measures of driving in four specific situations: at night, during rush-hour traffic, on high-speed roads, and more than 15 miles from home. Linear regression models were employed to assess associations, controlling for various demographic and functional factors. The results indicated that participants who passed the Whisper Test in both ears (indicating no significant hearing impairment) drove a significantly higher percentage of trips at night, on high-speed roads, and during rush-hour traffic compared to those who failed the test. Conversely, passing the hearing test was associated with driving a lower percentage of trips more than 15 miles from home. Better cognitive function was significantly associated with increased driving in night, high-speed, and rush-hour scenarios. A significant interaction was found between hearing and cognition regarding rush-hour driving: for those with good hearing in both ears, better cognition correlated with more rush-hour trips; however, for those with hearing loss in only one ear, better cognition correlated with fewer rush-hour trips. Visual acuity was significantly associated with driving further from home. The findings suggest that hearing impairment is linked to reduced driving exposure in complex or demanding scenarios, supporting the hypothesis that older drivers self-regulate based on functional limitations. The study concludes that hearing assessment should be a standard component of driver evaluations for older adults. Furthermore, the counterintuitive interaction between unilateral hearing loss and cognition highlights the need for further research into how specific sensory deficits interact with cognitive workload. These insights are critical for developing strategies to maintain safe mobility and for designing educational programs that address the combined effects of sensory and cognitive declines on driving behavior.
Key finding
Among 2,046 LongROAD older drivers, objective Whisper Test hearing (not self-report or hearing-aid use) was associated with higher GPS-measured exposure to night, high-speed, and rush-hour driving but lower exposure to trips more than 15 miles from home, with a significant hearing-by-cognition interaction for rush-hour trips.
Methodology
naturalistic
Sample size: 2046
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_aaa_foundation on 2026-05-23 (5 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | aaa_foundation | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
Topics
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- age related perceptual decline
- mci dementia driving
- older drivers
- sensory abilities
- exposure measurement
Information type
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence