Abstract
Objective
To examine assessment outcomes and factors associated with passing an occupational
therapy (OT) on-road driver assessment after traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design
Retrospective analysis of outcomes of on-road driver assessment completed by persons
with TBI over an 8-year period.
Setting
Inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation hospital.
Participants
A consecutive sample of individuals (N=207) with mild to severe TBI who completed
an on-road driver assessment and were assessed at least 3 months postinjury.
Intervention
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure
Outcome of on-road driver assessment.
Results
Of the drivers with TBI, 66% (n=137) passed the initial on-road driver assessment
(pass group), whereas 34% (n=70) required on-road driver rehabilitation and/or ≥1
on-road assessment (rehabilitation group). After driver rehabilitation, only 3 participants
of the group did not resume driving. Participants who were men, had shorter posttraumatic
amnesia (PTA) duration, had no physical and/or visual impairment, and had faster reaction
times were significantly more likely to be in the pass group. In combination, these
variables correctly classified 87.6% of the pass group and 71.2% of the rehabilitation
group.
Conclusions
PTA duration proved to be a better predictor of driver assessment outcome than Glasgow
Coma Scale score. In combination with the presence of physical/visual impairment and
slowed reaction times, PTA could assist clinicians to determine referral criteria
for OT driver assessment. On-road driver rehabilitation followed by on-road reassessment
were associated with a high probability of return to driving after TBI.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIC (Akaike information criterion), GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale), PTA (posttraumatic amnesia), TBI (traumatic brain injury)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 11, 2014
Footnotes
Supported by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria Sir Edmund Herring Memorial Scholarship.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
