Attitudes Toward Autonomous Vehicles in Rural Older Adults: Implications for Enhancing Access to Health Care
2024

Attitudes Toward Autonomous Vehicles in Rural Older Adults

Sample size: 120 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Yoon Jong Sung, Gandy Tyler, Zoaktafi Mojgan

Primary Institution: University of South Dakota

Hypothesis

Do rural older adults have negative attitudes towards autonomous vehicles, and do those attitudes change with technology proficiency?

Conclusion

Rural older adults are less willing to adopt autonomous vehicles compared to young adults, but their concerns and confidence levels are not as negative as previously thought.

Supporting Evidence

  • Rural older adults showed lower willingness to adopt AVs compared to rural young adults.
  • Higher technology proficiency predicted more positive attitudes toward AVs.
  • Rural older adults did not show higher concern about AVs compared to previous studies.

Takeaway

This study looked at how older people in rural areas feel about self-driving cars and found that their worries aren't as big as we thought, especially if they are good with technology.

Methodology

The study used a 16-item attitude survey to assess rural older adults' attitudes toward autonomous vehicles.

Potential Biases

Previous studies may have biased results by using online samples that favor tech-savvy individuals.

Limitations

The study may not represent all rural older adults as it relied on a specific sample.

Participant Demographics

Participants included older adults aged 60+ and young adults aged 17-21 from rural areas.

Statistical Information

P-Value

<0.01

Statistical Significance

p<0.01

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/geroni/igae098.0920

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