Predicting on-road performance of older drivers with cognitive impairment: Brief in-office screening of attention, visuospatial ability, and planning and foresight

The Snellgrove Maze Task (SMT; Snellgrove, 2005) was developed in SA to screen for specific cognitive domains required for safe driving (attention, visuospatial ability, planning and foresight), and discriminated with high accuracy older drivers with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early dementia who passed or failed an on-road driving test. Independent US studies have supported the utility of the SMT in predicting on-road pass or fail in older drivers, and those experiencing dementia and stroke. These studies will be presented, with a view to illustrating the potential for brief in-office cognitive screening to identify the most competent and dangerous older drivers without costly on-road driving tests.