The objective of this study was to determine if older drivers with pharmacologically treated hypertension and/or heart disease demonstrate impaired performance on established driving-related cognitive measures. Data regarding self-reported demographic variables (i.e., age, sex, race, income, mental and physical health diagnoses, and prescription drug use) and performance on drivingrelated measures of cognitive function (i.e., Trail Making Test B and Useful Field of View [UFOV®] subtest 2) were gathered from 865 licensed drivers. No group cognitive performance differences were found among the treated hypertensive group and the healthy control group, thus underscoring the importance of effective hypertension management. However, older adults with pharmacologically treated heart disease demonstrated poorer performance than did older adults without heart disease on Trails B and UFOV® subtest 2. Although it is generally agreed that assessment and early intervention with regard to heart disease risk factors (i.e., cholesterol, tobacco smoking, obesity, etc.) beneficially affect physical health, the current results also indicate that addressing such risk factors prior to the development of heart disease may benefit cognitive function as well. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
