Kayla Stefanidis

With Australia's growing ageing population, there is a clear and urgent need for the development of reliable and valid measures to screen older adults with cognitive decline for their fitness to drive. However, there are currently no guidelines or gold-standard assessment methods available to assess cognitive functions relevant for driving, and for identifying when patients with cognitive decline are no longer safe to drive. 

Dr Kayla Stefanidis used sensitive measures of cognitive functions important for driving to determine the relationship between cognitive performance and driving performance in adults aged 60 years and older. Her goal was to identify a combination of cognitive measures that best predict driving capacity in this population. When tested on a hazard perception test and simulated highway drive, she found that attention and visuo-spatial working memory could predict driving performance.

This study will inform the development of an online cognitive screening tool that health professionals can use to identify older adults who require a formal on-road driving assessment. This will have critical implications for road safety. Dr Stefanidis plans to continue this research, conducting subsequent studies investigating cognitive correlates, such as cardiovascular disease and on-road driving performance in older adults.

Read more about this exciting project

Stefanidis K et al (2026). Identifying neuropsychological correlates of driving performance in older adults: Findings from the ROADSAFE study. Transportation Research, 10.1016/j.trf.2026.103723

Dr Kayla Stefanidis is employed as a Senior Research Fellow within the MAIC/UniSC Road Safety Research Collaboration, University of the Sunshine Coast. Dr Stefanidis leads the senior driver research program, focusing specifically on neurocognition, age-related changes and diseases, and fitness to drive capacity in older adults.