[Visual field defects after epilepsy surgery: implications for driving license tenure]. / Gesichtsfelddefekte nach epilepsiechirurgischen Eingriffen : Bedeutung für die Fahrerlaubnis.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy surgery is an effective and established therapy in medically uncontrollable seizure disorders. In the course of such operations lesions of the visual pathway are often unavoidable. The resultant visual field defects can conflict with the legal requirements for a driving license. METHODS: In this single center trial Goldmann perimetric findings in 135 temporal lobe epilepsy surgery procedures were analyzed retrospectively. The data were reviewed with respect to current and former German legal requirements for a driving license. RESULTS: Of the surgical procedures 64 % resulted in visual field defects, 50% of the postoperative visual field findings did not comply with the legal requirements for a driving license and 56% did not comply with those for a heavy goods vehicle driving license. DISCUSSION: A considerable proportion of the epilepsy surgery procedures examined in this study resulted in visual field defects that did not comply with the German legal requirements for driving vehicles. In all cases defects in the center of the visual field proved pivotal.

Screening for sleep disordered breathing among applicants for a professional driver's license.

OBJECTIVES: Individuals with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) are at high risk for falling asleep while driving. The aim of this study was to identify variables that would predict SDB among healthy young applicants for a professional driver's license. METHOD: A total of 301 applicants for a driver's license completed self-administered questionnaires. Sleep was recorded for one night with the Watch peripheral arterial tone-100. To identify possible predictors of SDB (Respiratory Disturbance Index >15), we employed new statistical methods. RESULTS: The following items were identified as significant predictors of SDB: body mass index, age, Mini Sleep Questionnaire, smoking, father snoring, afternoon nap-taking, and falling asleep while traveling as a passenger. Moderate or severe SDB was prevalent in at least 25% of the applicants. CONCLUSION: New statistical methods revealed that a combination of questions related to sleep habits, complaints, and demographic data predicted most of the clinically significant SDB.

Cognitive predictors of unsafe driving in older drivers: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Older drivers are at a higher risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. However, on-road assessments of all older drivers are impractical, highlighting the need to screen for potentially unsafe drivers. This study undertook a meta-analysis of research examining the cognitive predictors of driving ability in older drivers in order to provide an evidence-based method for screening drivers. METHODS: Comprehensive searches were undertaken of the PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Health-Source Nursing electronic databases between 1980 and 2007 in order to identify studies that examined cognitive differences between drivers aged over 55 years who either passed or failed a driving assessment. Twenty-one studies were eligible for inclusion. Weighted Cohen's d effect sizes, percentage overlap statistics, Fail-safe Ns and 95% CIs were calculated for all cognitive tests. RESULTS: The best predictors of on-road driving were the Ergovision and Useful Field of View (UFOV) tests, a complex RT task, Paper Folding task, Dot Counting, WMS Visual Reproduction, and Computerized Visual Attention Task. Simulator driving performance was best predicted by the Benton Line Orientation Task, Clock Drawing, a Driver Scanning task, the UFOV, WAIS Picture Arrangement and MMSE. Finally, the Trail Making Test, Stroop, UFOV, WAIS Block Design, and Automated Psychophysical Test were good predictors of driving problems. CONCLUSIONS: There are a variety of tests that appear suitable for screening older drivers, the exact choice of which depends on the "gold standard" for determining driving ability (on-road driving, driving simulator, driving problems) and whether a computerized or paper-and-pencil task is required.

Usefulness of off-road screening tests to licensing authorities when assessing older driver fitness to drive.

INTRODUCTION: There is a growing interest in quick and convenient, off-road tests of fitness to drive to assist licensing authorities in identifying the minority of older drivers at heightened crash risk. Two screening tests have been identified and assessed for their usefulness in a licensing context. METHOD: The research literature has been examined to identify available evaluation evidence relating to the two tests. In particular, studies that have quantified any association between test results and crash involvement in terms of relative risk have been analyzed for licensing implications. RESULTS: Performance on two tests--UFOV and MaryPODS--has been shown to have a consistent and statistically significant association with crash risk, including at-risk crashes. Overall, poor test performance has been associated with a two times or higher relative risk of crash involvement on both retrospective and prospective bases. This statistical association is seen as a necessary first step in further developing off-road screening tests. It is demonstrated, however, that the tests are presently too inaccurate to be used as a form of age-based assessment on a simple pass/fail basis and would result in large numbers of older drivers being needlessly taken from the road. It is also argued that these tests may hold promise when used for preselected groups of at-risk older drivers and when used to produce a threefold outcome ("pass," "'fail," and "uncertain, requiring further assessment"). CONCLUSIONS: At this time, no off-road screening test of fitness to drive currently can be justified if applied on a simple pass/fail basis to all drivers reaching a threshold age, as the sole determinant of licensing status.

Acceptability and concurrent validity of measures to predict older driver involvement in motor vehicle crashes: an Emergency Department pilot case-control study.

INTRODUCTION: Older drivers have one of the highest motor vehicle crash (MVC) rates per kilometer driven, largely due to the functional effects of the accumulation, and progression of age-associated medical conditions that eventually impact on fitness-to-drive. Consequently, physicians in many jurisdictions are legally mandated to report to licensing authorities patients who are judged to be medically at risk for MVCs. Unfortunately, physicians lack evidence-based tools to assess the fitness-to-drive of their older patients. This paper reports on a pilot study that examines the acceptability and association with MVC of components of a comprehensive clinical assessment battery. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the acceptability to participants of components of a comprehensive assessment battery, and to explore potential predictors of MVC that can be employed in front-line clinical settings. METHODS: Case-control study of 10 older drivers presenting to a tertiary care hospital emergency department after involvement in an MVC and 20 age-matched controls. RESULTS: The measures tested were generally found to be acceptable to participants. Positive associations (p

[Cognitive impairments among older drivers: medical examination and driving test]. / Autorijden bij ouderen met cognitieve functiestoornissen: medische keuring en rijtest.

The aim of this study was to gain insight in the prevalence of cognitive impairments among active older drivers and in driving performance of cognitively impaired ones. The study was implemented in the existing Dutch relicensing procedure for older drivers and consisted of three evaluation moments: a medical screening (for all subjects), a neuropsychological assessment and a test-drive (for candidates with cognitive impairments). In total, 2992 drivers were medically evaluated. In 4% of cases indications for impaired cognitive functioning were observed that could be evaluated and confirmed with neuropsychological tests. Eighty subjects performed an on-road test. Of these subjects, 57% were allowed to renew their driver's license, while in the remaining 43% no new licenses or restricted licenses were issued. During the test-drive, slow reactions and attention deficits were the most important causes for impaired fitness to drive.

Causas de reprovaçäo no teste de acuidade visual do Departamento de Trânsito de Paraná / Causes of failure in visual acuity test of Paraná Driver License Division

O exame de acuidade visual é um teste importante na seleçäo dos candidatos à Carteira Nacional de Habilitaçäo (CNH), uma vez que uma boa visäo é essencial para a segurança no trânsito. Entretanto, muitos oftalmologistas recebem em seus consultórios pacientes reprovados neste teste sem alteraçäo da acuidade visual (AV). Com o objetivo de verificar as causas de reprovaçäo no teste da AV do Departamento de Trânsito (Detran), bem como sua sensibilidade, foram avaliados 120 candidatos à CNH, que reprovaram no exame da AV, onde verificou-se que 56 (46,7 por cento) candidatos reprovados teriam condiçöes de aprovaçäo e poderiam obter qualquer tipo de CNH. O erro de refraçäo foi encontrado em 95 (79,2 por cento) pacientes reprovados no teste de AV do Detran. Os autores concluíram que o Detran, por ter um teste de AV muito sensível no que tange à reprovaçäo, poderia ter fornecido a CNH para a maior parte dos candidatos sem que houvesse necessidade de encaminhamento ao oftalmologista