Physician's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers. Second edition.

摘要

This excellent work was created by the American Medical Association (AMA) with support from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) to help physicians address preventable motor vehicle injuries, because ‘‘Currently, motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among 65-to-74-year-olds and the second leading cause (after falls) among 75-to-84-year-olds’’ (p. ix). The so-called ‘‘silver tsunami’’ of aging Americans will only exacerbate these alarming statistics. The AMA and NHTSA see this as a tool for physicians ‘‘to forge a link between public health and medicine’’ (p. ix) by assessing and counseling older drivers to enhance driving safety and ‘‘ease the transition to driving retirement if and when it becomes necessary’’ (p. ix). This comprehensive work has an excellent format, is highly readable, and includes relatable patient vignettes. Beginning with an overview of ‘‘Safety and the Older Drive with Functional or Medical Impairments’’ and including the ‘‘Physician’s Plan for Older Drivers’ Safety (PPODS)’’ chart (p. 6), ten chapters cover everything from performing a thorough physical and mental assessment of patients to broaching the issue of driving and ‘‘Counseling the Patient Who Is No Longer Safe toDrive.’’ The text states that ‘‘For most of us, driving is a symbol of independence and selfesteem. When an individual retires from driving, he/she not only loses a form of transportation, but all the emotional and social benefits derived from driving’’ (p. 49).