Citation

Baker A, Unsworth CA, Lannin NA. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2015; 79: 50-55.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia; Department of Occupational Therapy, Alfred Health, Victoria, Australia; Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: anne.baker@monash.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2015.03.014

PMID

25797386

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the trajectory of recovery in fitness-to-drive after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This means that health-care professionals have limited evidence on which to base recommendations to this cohort about driving.

OBJECTIVE: To determine fitness-to-drive status of patients with a mTBI at 24h and two weeks post injury, and to summarise issues reported by this cohort about return to driving.

METHOD: Quasi-experimental case-control design. Two groups of participants were recruited: patients with a mTBI (n=60) and a control group with orthopaedic injuries (n=60). Both groups were assessed at 24h post injury on assessments of fitness-to-drive. Follow-up occurred at two weeks post injury to establish driver status. MAIN MEASURES: Mini mental state examination, occupational therapy-drive home maze test (OT-DHMT), Road Law Road Craft Test, University of Queensland-Hazard Perception Test, and demographic/interview form collected at 24h and at two weeks.

RESULTS: At the 24h assessment, only the OT-DHMT showed a difference in scores between the two groups, with mTBI participants being significantly slower to complete the test (p=0.01). At the two week follow-up, only 26 of the 60 mTBI participants had returned to driving. Injury severity combined with scores from the 24h assessment predicted 31% of the variance in time taken to return to driving. Delayed return to driving was reported due to: "not feeling 100% right" (n=14, 23%), headaches and pain (n=12, 20%), and dizziness (n=5, 8%).

CONCLUSION: This research supports existing guidelines which suggest that patients with a mTBI should not to drive for 24h; however, further research is required to map factors which facilitate timely return to driving.

Language: en