J Korean Phys Ther.
2018 Oct;30(5):187-192. 10.18857/jkpt.2018.30.5.187.
Relationship between Functional Fitness and Break Response in Elderly Drivers: Comparison with Young Driver
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Science, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea. baeys@gachon.ac.kr
- 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea.
- KMID: 2434856
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.18857/jkpt.2018.30.5.187
Abstract
- PURPOSE
This study compared the functional fitness and brake response of elderly and young drivers to confirm the correlation between the functional fitness and brake response.
METHODS
This study was a cross sectional observational design. Older drivers (>65age, n=21) and young adult drivers (20-40aged, n=20) were enrolled as subjects. The functional fitness of the subjects was measured using a senior fitness test consisting of a back scratch (BS), chair sit and reach (CSR), arm curl (AC), chair stand up (CSU), foot up and go (8-FUG), and 2-minute step (2-MS). The brake response used the virtual driving simulator to measure the brake reaction time (BRT) and braking distance (BD) according to the pedestrian protection and traffic signal compliance.
RESULTS
The older drivers had a lower BS (p < 0.000), CSU (p=0.040), and 8-FUG (p=0.011) than the young adult drivers. BS and 8-FUG showed a significant positive correlation with the BRT and BD of pedestrian protection and traffic signal compliance. CSU showed a significant negative correlation with the BRT of pedestrian protection and traffic signal compliance.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that the flexibility of the upper extremity, lower extremity strength, and agility are strongly correlated with the driving performance of elderly drivers.
