TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Effect of Simulator Training on Fitness-to-Drive After Stroke: A 5-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial
JO  - Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
A1  - Devos, Hannes
A1  - Akinwuntan, Abiodun Emmanuel
A1  - Nieuwboer, Alice
A1  - Ringoot, Isabelle
A1  - Van Berghen, K.
A1  - Tant, Mark
A1  - Kiekens, Carlotte
A1  - De Weerdt, Willy
SP  - 843
EP  - 850
VL  - 24
IS  - 9
N2  - BACKGROUND: No long-term studies have been reported on the effect of training programs on driving after stroke. OBJECTIVES: The authors' primary aim was to determine the effect of simulator versus cognitive rehabilitation therapy on fitness-to-drive at 5 years poststroke. A second aim was to investigate differences in clinical characteristics between stroke survivors who resumed and stopped driving. METHODS: In a previously reported randomized controlled trial,83 stroke survivors received 15 hours of simulator training (n = 42) or cognitive therapy (n = 41). In this 5-year follow-up study, 61 participants were reassessed. Fitness-to-drive decisions were obtained from medical, visual, neuropsychological, and on-road tests; 44 participants (simulator group, n = 21; cognitive group, n = 23) completed all assessments. The primary outcome measures were fitness-to-drive decision and current driving status. RESULTS: The authors found that 5 years after stroke, 18 of 30 participants (60%) in the simulator group were considered fit to drive, compared with 15 of 31 (48%) in the cognitive group (P = .36); 34 of 61 (56%) participants were driving. Current drivers were younger (P = .04), had higher Barthel scores (P = .008), had less comorbidity (P = .01), and were less severely depressed (P = .02) than those who gave up driving. CONCLUSIONS: The advantage of simulator-based driving training over cognitive rehabilitation therapy, evident at 6 months poststroke, had faded 5 years later. Poststroke drivers were younger and less severely affected and depressed than nondrivers.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1545-9683
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1545968310368687
ID  - ref1
ER  -