Citation

Yuen HK, Gillespie MB, Barkley RA, Day TA, Bandyopadhyay D, Sharma AK. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2007; 133(9): 904-909.

Affiliation

Occupational Therapy Educational Program, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, 77 President Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. yuen@musc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/archotol.133.9.904

PMID

17875857

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate actual driving performance in a group of patients with cancer in the head and neck region. DESIGN: A nonrandomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Ten patients with cancer in the head and neck region participated in a driving evaluation using a virtual reality driving simulator. Driving performance from the simulator and observer ratings on participants' driving behaviors were compared between a group of patients with cancer in the head and neck region and a group of 50 community control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Average speed, mean brake reaction time, steering variability, the total number of (fatal and nonfatal) collisions during the 12-minute evaluation course on the driving simulator, and the score of the 18-item Simulator Driving Performance Scale. RESULTS: Using Mann-Whitney U tests, the brake reaction time and the steering variability in the cancer group were significantly longer and larger, respectively, than those in the control group (P = .04) and (P = .02). However, no significant differences were found between the 2 groups in the mean rank scores for average speed, total number of collisions, and Simulator Driving Performance Scale (P >.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study provides preliminary evidence indicating inferior driving performance in a group of patients with cancer in the head and neck region when compared with a community control group. Further study is needed to investigate factors attributing to the difference.

Language: en