Support for Stroke Patients in Resumption of Driving: Patient Survey and Driving Simulator Trial
By Hitosugi, Masahito; Takehara, Itaru; Watanabe, Shu; Hayashi, Yasufumi; Tokudome, Shogo; International Journal of General Medicine, Volume 2011, Number 4, pages 191-195Publication Date: 2011
Study developed and evaluated a support program using a driving simulator for stroke patients who wish to resume driving. A survey was first performed of stroke patients admitted to a rehabilitation hospital. Of 218 responses, the answers of 118 patients who had been driving before their stroke were analyzed. More than 80 percent of respondents did not obtain enough information about resuming driving during their hospital stay, and about 38 percent would have liked to receive driving training with a simulator. Based on study results, the authors set out to determine the effect of driving training using the Honda driving simulator, which consists of an actual front body of an automatic sedan car and is equipped with three large screens with a field of view of 138 degrees. To allow use by patients with right hemiplegia, a left sided accelerator pedal, left sided indicator stick, and steering spinner were incorporated into the simulator. Participants were 24 stroke patients aged 37 to 76 years, of whom 4 were women, and 20 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 49 years, 9 of whom were women. Repeat training with the simulator resulted in an increased ability to perform braking and an improvement in driving ability. The majority of stroke patients who had the mental and physical ability to drive a car were likely to be assessed as being able to resume driving as a result of the training program.
Published by: Dove Medical Press (Website:http://www.dovepress.com/)
Link to text: http://www.dovepress.com/support-for-stroke-patients-in-resumption-of-driving-patient-survey-an-peer-reviewed-article-IJGM
