Many medications that older adults take can significantly impair their ability to drive a vehicle safely. But little is known about how potentially driving-impairing medications are prescribed to older populations specifically before and after motor vehicle crashes. Recognizing this knowledge gap, a team of researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health and the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia conducted a study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, that investigated the types of medications older adults are using before accidents, and the changes made in medication regimens post-crash.
The research team – led by Melissa Riester, research scientist at Brown’s Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research, and Andrew Zullo, associate professor of epidemiology and of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health – examined data from people aged 67 or older, covered by Medicare in New Jersey, who were drivers involved in police-reported crashes between 2008 and 2017.
They focused on 36 types of medications known to potentially impair driving, analyzing their usage 120 days before and after each crash. Specifically, they tracked alterations in medication intake – both commencement and cessation – following the incidents.
“Use of one medication could increase the risk of a motor vehicle crash, and taking multiple medications together could further increase the risk,” Riester said. “However, few studies have examined how often individuals take multiple medications and how the number of these medications changes following a crash.”