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Predicting Road Test Performance in Adults with Cognitive or Visual Impairment Referred to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center Driving Clinic
Author(s) -
Niewoehner Patricia M.,
Henderson Rochelle R.,
Dalchow Jami,
Beardsley Tracy L.,
Stern Robert A.,
Carr David B.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2012.04201.x
Subject(s) - medicine , veterans affairs , center (category theory) , test (biology) , cognitive impairment , gerontology , cognition , human factors and ergonomics , medical emergency , poison control , psychiatry , paleontology , chemistry , crystallography , biology
Objectives To develop a screening battery for office‐based clinicians that would assist with the prediction of impaired driving performance and deciding who should proceed to road testing in a sample of adults with cognitive or visual deficits. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Driving evaluation clinic at a V eterans A ffairs M edical C enter ( VAMC ) in S t. L ouis, M issouri. Participants Seventy‐seven individuals aged 23 to 91 with diagnoses of cognitive or visual impairment or both referred to an occupational therapy based driving clinic by VAMC providers because of concerns regarding driving safety. Measurements Predictor variables included tests of visual and cognitive functioning and activities of daily living. The major outcome was pass or fail on a standardized performance‐based on‐road driving test. Results Thirty percent of the referrals failed the road test. The best predictors of driving performance were the T rail‐ M aking T est P art A and the M azes T est from the N europsychological A ssessment B attery. Conclusion Measures of visual search, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning accurately predicted road test performance in a significant number of participants. These brief tests may assist clinicians in deciding who should proceed with a road test in a driver rehabilitation clinic or perhaps to whom it should be recommended to cease driving.