Tennis playing is associated to psychomotor speed in older drivers

Abstract

The study investigated the association of tennis playing and running with the psychomotor speed of older drivers. Thirty-six active male drivers ( M age = 63.2 yr.) participated. A battery of four on-the road driving tests was performed by tennis players, runners, and a control group. Measures of simple and choice reaction time, movement time, and response time were collected under singleand dual-task conditions. A composite driving score was calculated from reaction time measures of all driving tasks to refl ect a general drivers' psychomotor speed. Statistically signifi cant diff erences between groups were found in a braking task; tennis players performed signifi cantly better than controls in simple reaction time and response time. The composite driving score also diff ered between groups, and tennis players had better results than controls. Regular participation in tennis was related to psychomotor speed of older drivers.