In-Depth Evaluation of Association between Crash and Hand Arthritis via Naturalistic Driving Study
DOI: 10.3390/app122312079
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study investigates the association between severe arthritis and crash risk, as well as its impact on driving behavior and fitness-to-drive metrics. The research is motivated by the high prevalence of arthritis among US drivers, particularly seniors, and inconsistent findings in prior literature regarding its effect on safety. While previous studies suggested arthritis might impair driving performance, results linking it directly to crash involvement have varied. This research aims to clarify these relationships using objective, real-world driving data to inform the development of assistance systems for drivers with mobility limitations. The authors utilized data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP 2 NDS), which includes 3,563 participants and over one million hours of continuous driving data collected between 2010 and 2015. Vehicles were equipped with data acquisition systems recording GPS, acceleration, video, and other metrics. A subset of 78 drivers was identified as having severe arthritis based on recruitment surveys and physical exams, including hand grip strength measurements. These drivers contributed to 414 of the 1,641 crashes recorded in the dataset. The study employed random-effect logistic regression models to analyze binary outcomes (crash involvement and secondary task engagement) and random-effect linear models for continuous variables (grip strength and sensation-seeking scores), adjusting for age, sex, and driver-specific random effects. The results indicate a significant relationship between severe arthritis and crash risk. After adjusting for age effects, drivers with arthritis had an odds ratio of 1.99, meaning they were nearly twice as likely to be involved in a crash compared to those without the condition. However, the study found no statistically significant association between arthritis and secondary task engagement, such as cellphone use or interacting with passengers. Additionally, there was no significant link between arthritis and sensation-seeking scores, a personality trait often associated with risky driving. The data also revealed that arthritis prevalence increased with age, consistent with national statistics, and that drivers with arthritis exhibited lower right-hand grip strength on average. The findings suggest that severe arthritis is a critical risk factor for crash involvement, independent of distraction-related behaviors or personality traits. This highlights the importance of considering physical limitations, such as reduced range of motion and strength, in assessing driver fitness. The study underscores the value of naturalistic driving data in identifying specific risk factors that self-reported surveys may miss. These insights can guide the development of targeted interventions and vehicle assistance systems to improve safety for older drivers and those with arthritis, addressing a significant public health and safety concern.
Key finding
Individuals with severe arthritis are twice as likely to be involved in a crash compared to those without the condition, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.99.
Methodology
naturalistic
Sample size: 3563
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | openalex | — | — | 8 | 2026-06-06 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | crossref | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-04 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 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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Information type
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- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes, observational prevalence
- Methodological Resource: dataset resource