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Journal Article

Citation

Devos H, Morgan JC, Onyeamaechi A, Bogle CA, Holton K, Kruse J, Sasser S, Akinwuntan AE. Aust. Occup. Ther. J. 2016; 63(6): 408-414.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, GA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1440-1630.12263

PMID

27071987

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIM: The use of simulators as an assessment and intervention tool for driving is an emerging field in occupational therapy. We investigated the potential usefulness of a driving simulator to improve on-road skills and cognitive functions in drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHOD: Fifteen participants with PD, and Hoehn and Yahr stages between 2 and 3 participated in this pre-post comparison study. Twelve of the 15 individuals (median age (Q1-Q3), 68 (63.5-72.5); 10 men) completed 10 hours of training in a high-fidelity driving simulator. A practical road test as well as off-road cognitive and simulator tests were administered at pre-training and post-training.

RESULTS: Nine participants, who passed the road test before training, passed at post-training. Furthermore, all three participants who initially failed the on-road test passed after training. Participants' performance improved significantly from pre- to post-training on two cognitive tests: (i) the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and (ii) Dot Cancellation test.

CONCLUSION: This pilot study demonstrates the potential usefulness of a simulator to improve on-road driving and driving-related cognitive skills in PD. Adequately powered randomized controlled trials are needed to further expand this field of study.

© 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia.


Language: en

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