Investigation of Reference Score of the Stroke Driversʼ Screening Assessment Japanese Version (J-SDSA)

Abstract

  The Stroke Drivers Screening Assessment Japanese Version (J-SDSA) , which consists of 4 subtests, is now available in Japan. However, the reference score is not clearly determined in Japan. The first purpose of this study was to indicate a cut-off point of each subtest at which a brain-injured patient is judged to be “fit to drive” using J-SDSA. The second purpose was to clarify the prediction accuracy of on-road results based on the cut-off points and subtests in combination. 94 brain-injured patients from 7 institutions participated in the present study. Each patient was examined using the J-SDSA, and received on-road driving assessment within the subsequent week. The results of the on-road driving assessments were classified into “fit to drive” and “unfit to drive” groups based on the judgment by the driving instructor. The “fit to drive” group showed significantly better performance than the “unfit to drive” group in the 3 subtests of “directions”, “compass”, and “road sign recognition” of the J-SDSA. Patients who exceeded the cut-off points in all 3 subtests turned out to be “fit to drive” with more than 80% predictive accuracy. In contrast, all patients who fell below the cut-off score in all 3 subtests turned out to be “unfit to drive”.