Open AccessProtocol for the conceptualization and evaluation of a screening-tool for fitness-to-drive assessment in older people with cognitive impairment
Author(s) -
Leonhard Zellner,
Florian Herpich,
David Brieber,
M Herle,
Peter Zwanzger,
Alexander Brunnauer
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0256262
Subject(s) - neuropsychology , cognition , protocol (science) , neuropsychological assessment , conceptualization , test (biology) , relevance (law) , psychology , medicine , poison control , clinical trial , applied psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychiatry , medical emergency , computer science , alternative medicine , paleontology , pathology , artificial intelligence , political science , law , biology
Due to aging and health status people may be subjected to a decrease of cognitive ability and subsequently also a decline of driving safety. On the other hand there is a lack of valid and economically applicable instruments to assess driving performance. Objective The study is designed to develop a valid screening-tool for fitness-to-drive assessment in older people with cognitive impairment externally validated on the basis of on-road driving performance. Methods In a single-centre, non-randomized cross-sectional trial cognitive functioning and on-road-driving-behavior of older drivers will be assessed. Forty participants with cognitive impairment of different etiology and 40 healthy controls will undergo an extensive neuropsychological assessment. Additionally, an on-road driving assessment for external validation of fitness to drive will be carried out. Primary outcome measures will be performance in attention, executive functions and visuospatial tasks that will be validated with respect to performance on the on-road-driving-test. Secondary outcome measures will be sociodemographic, clinical- and driving characteristics to systematically examine their influence on the prediction of driving behavior. Discussion In clinical practice counselling patients with respect to driving safety is of great relevance. Thus, having valid, reliable, time economical and easily interpretable screening-tools on hand to counsel patients is of great relevance for practitioners. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. The trial results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and various conferences. Trial registration 18–640. Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register. Registration number: DRKS00023549 .