Driving performace in persons with mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type
Linda et al. Hunt
Bok Norsk 1993
| Utgitt | 1993
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| Omfang | 6 s.
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| Utgave | Særtrykk/Kopi
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| Opplysninger | Abstract Objective: To assess the effect of mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) on driving ability.Design: Cross-sectional study with correlation analysis.Setting: A university-based Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, with evaluates community-living older adult volunteers, and the university's Program in Occupational Theraphy.Participants: Healthy elderly controls (n=13) and subjects with very mild (n=12) and mild (n=13) SDAT. Dementia severity was staged by the Washington University Clinical Dementia Rating.Measurements: The driving ability of participants on the incar road test was scored independently by a driving instructor, blinded to the study design and to the dementia status of the subjects, and an unblinded occupational therapist. Interview-based perceptions of driving ability were obtained independently from the subjects and their collateral sources. Attentional and visuospatial performances of the subjects were assessed prior to the road test.Results: All control and very mild SDAT subjects were jugded to be "safe" drivers (ie, passed the in-car road test), but five (40%) of the mild SDAT subjects had driving impairment sufficient to "fail" the road test. Neither subject selfassessment nor caregiver perceptions of driving ability consistently predicted driving performance. Attentional task performance correlated well with road test results.Conclusions: Some SDAT subjects retain "sfe" driving skills. The greater the dementia severity, the greater the likelihood of poor driving ability. Performance-based (road test) evaluations are necessary to properly determine driving skills at present, but attention and other cognitiv screening measures should be developed.
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