Citation

McKay A, Liew C, Schönberger M, Ross P, Ponsford J. J. Head Trauma Rehabil. 2015; 31(6): E44-E52.

Affiliation

School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (Drs McKay, Schönberger, and Ponsford and Ms Liew); Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre, Epworth HealthCare, Melbourne, Australia (Drs McKay, Schönberger, and Ponsford and Ms Ross); Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Dr Schönberger); and National Trauma Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia (Dr Ponsford).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/HTR.0000000000000209

PMID

26709586

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine the relations between performance on cognitive tests and on-road driving assessment in a sample of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). (2) To compare cognitive predictors of the on-road assessment with demographic and injury-related predictors. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-nine people with mild-severe TBI who completed an on-road driving assessment in an Australian rehabilitation setting.

DESIGN: Retrospective case series. MAIN MEASURES: Wechsler Test of Adult Reading or National Adult Reading Test-Revised; 4 subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III; Rey Auditory Verbal Leaning Test; Rey Complex Figure Test; Trail Making Test; demographic factors (age, sex, years licensed); and injury-related factors (duration of posttraumatic amnesia; time postinjury).

RESULTS: Participants who failed the driving assessment did worse on measures of attention, visual memory, and executive processing; however, cognitive tests were weak correlates (r values <0.3) and poor predictors of the driving assessment. Posttraumatic amnesia duration mediated by time postinjury was the strongest predictor of the driving assessment-that is, participants with more severe TBIs had later driving assessments and were more likely to fail.

CONCLUSION: Cognitive tests are not reliable predictors of the on-road driving assessment outcome. Traumatic brain injury severity may be a better predictor of on-road driving; however, further research is needed to identify the best predictors of driving behavior after TBI.

Language: en