TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - Driving performance in patients with cancer in the head and neck region: a pilot study
JO  - Archives of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery
A1  - Yuen, Hunter K. L.
A1  - Gillespie, Marion B.
A1  - Barkley, R. A.
A1  - Day, Terry A.
A1  - Bandyopadhyay, Dipankar
A1  - Sharma, A. K.
SP  - 904
EP  - 909
VL  - 133
IS  - 9
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0886-4470
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archotol.133.9.904
ID  - ref1
ER  -