Bassingthwaighte L, Gustafsson L, Molineux M, Bell R, Pinzon Perez W, Shah D. On-road driving remediation following acquired brain injury: a randomized controlled trial.
Brain Inj 2024:1-12. [PMID:
38994668 DOI:
10.1080/02699052.2024.2376763]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between on-road driving remediation and achieving fitness to drive following acquired brain injury.
DESIGN
Randomized controlled trial.
SETTING
Tertiary hospital outpatient driver assessment and rehabilitation service, Australia.
PARTICIPANTS
Thirty-five participants (54.3% male), aged 18-65 years, 41 days-20 years post-acquired brain injury (including stroke, aneurysm, traumatic brain injury) recommended for on-road driving remediation following occupational therapy driver assessment were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 18) and waitlist control (n = 17) groups.
INTERVENTION
Intervention group received on-road driving remediation delivered by a qualified driving instructor in a dual-control vehicle. The waitlist control group completed a 6 week period of no driving-related remediation.
MAIN MEASURE
Fitness to drive rated following the conduct of an on-road occupational therapy driver assessment with a qualified driving instructor where outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation.
RESULTS
The intervention group were significantly more likely to achieve a fit to drive recommendation than no driving specific intervention (p = 0.003).
CONCLUSION
Following comprehensive assessment, individualized on-road driving remediation programs devised by an occupational therapist with advanced training in driver assessment and rehabilitation and delivered by a qualified driving instructor are significantly associated with achieving fitness to drive after acquired brain injury.
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