Construction and Validation of the 21 Item Fitness-to-Drive Screening Measure Short-Form

• Main Authors: Sherrilene Classen, Shabnam Medhizadah, Sergio Romero, Mi Jung Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-12-01
• Series: Frontiers in Public Health
• Subjects: aging; proxy raters; decision support system; automobile driving; fitness to drive
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00339/full

Introduction: The Fitness-to-Drive Screening Measure is a free online screening tool that detects at-risk older drivers, however, it's 20 min administration time may render the 54-item tool less than optimal for clinical use. Thus, this study constructed and validated a 21-item FTDS Short-Form (FTDS-SF).Method: This mixed methods study used 200 proxy rater responses and older driver on-road assessments. We conducted a Rasch analysis to examine information at the level of the item and used content validity index scores to select items. Using a receiver operator characteristics curve we determined the concurrent validity of the FTDS-SF to on-road outcomes.Results: Twenty-one items were selected for the FTDS-SF. The area under the curve = 0.72, indicated the FTDS-SF predicted on-road outcomes with acceptable accuracy. Still, 68 drivers were misclassified.Conclusion: The FTDS-SF may reduce administration time, while still yielding acceptable psychometric properties. Yet, caution needs to be executed in clinical decision making as the measure is overly specific.