TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-reported opioid use and driving outcomes among older adults
T2 - The AAA LongROAD study
AU - Betz, Marian E.
AU - Hyde, Hailey
AU - DiGuiseppi, Carolyn
AU - Platts-Mills, Timothy F.
AU - Hoppe, Jason
AU - Strogatz, David
AU - Andrews, Howard F.
AU - Mielenz, Thelma J.
AU - Hill, Linda L.
AU - Jones, Vanya
AU - Molnar, Lisa J.
AU - Eby, David W.
AU - Li, Guohua
N1 - Funding Information:
Paul Beeson Career Development Award (The National Institute on Aging; AFAR; The John A. Hartford Foundation; and The Atlantic Philanthropies; Grant Number Betz K23AG043123), and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant 1 R49 CE002096). The contents of the manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the funding agencies. Conflicts of interest: None.
Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (Washington, DC) and by a
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Board of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Background: Opioid medications are important therapeutic options to mitigate the harmful effects of pain but can also impair driving ability. We sought to explore opioid use, pain levels, and driving experiences among older drivers. Methods: Cognitively intact drivers ages 65 to 79 years were recruited for the multisite AAA Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study (n = 2990). This cross-sectional analysis used data from the baseline questionnaire and “brown-bag” medication review. Results: Among LongROAD participants (47% male, 88% white, 41% aged 65 to 69 years), 169 (5.7%) reported currently taking an opioid, with a median daily dose of 20 morphine milligram equivalents. Participants did not differ significantly in opioid use by age, gender, race, or ethnicity (P > .05). After adjustment for age, gender, race and ethnicity, participants who were taking opioids (vs not) were significantly more likely to report self-regulated driving reduction and reduced driving ability. However, these effects became nonsignificant when hospitalization, impaired physical function and other factors associated with opioid use were controlled. Conclusions: In this study from a large, geographically diverse sample of older adults, there was an association between opioid use and several self-reported measures of driving behavior and ability. However, future work should clarify the effects on driving of opioid use from the effects of the painful medical conditions for which the opioids are being taken. Clinicians should continue to discuss the risks and benefits of opioid medications with patients, including risks related to driving safety.
AB - Background: Opioid medications are important therapeutic options to mitigate the harmful effects of pain but can also impair driving ability. We sought to explore opioid use, pain levels, and driving experiences among older drivers. Methods: Cognitively intact drivers ages 65 to 79 years were recruited for the multisite AAA Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study (n = 2990). This cross-sectional analysis used data from the baseline questionnaire and “brown-bag” medication review. Results: Among LongROAD participants (47% male, 88% white, 41% aged 65 to 69 years), 169 (5.7%) reported currently taking an opioid, with a median daily dose of 20 morphine milligram equivalents. Participants did not differ significantly in opioid use by age, gender, race, or ethnicity (P > .05). After adjustment for age, gender, race and ethnicity, participants who were taking opioids (vs not) were significantly more likely to report self-regulated driving reduction and reduced driving ability. However, these effects became nonsignificant when hospitalization, impaired physical function and other factors associated with opioid use were controlled. Conclusions: In this study from a large, geographically diverse sample of older adults, there was an association between opioid use and several self-reported measures of driving behavior and ability. However, future work should clarify the effects on driving of opioid use from the effects of the painful medical conditions for which the opioids are being taken. Clinicians should continue to discuss the risks and benefits of opioid medications with patients, including risks related to driving safety.
KW - Automobile Driving
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Opioid-Related Disorders
KW - Opioids
KW - Pain
KW - Questionnaires
KW - Risk Assessment
KW - Surveys
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U2 - 10.3122/jabfm.2020.04.190429
DO - 10.3122/jabfm.2020.04.190429
M3 - Article
C2 - 32675263
AN - SCOPUS:85088157179
SN - 1557-2625
VL - 33
SP - 521
EP - 528
JO - Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
JF - Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
IS - 4
ER -