Relationship between driving evaluation using a driving simulator and resumption/non-resumption of driving in brain-injury patients hospitalized in an acute care ward: A case-control study

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between the driving simulator (DS) evaluation and driving resumption/non-resumption in patients with brain injury and examined the cutoff values and DS subtests prediction accuracy in an acute care hospital. The participants were 88 patients with brain injuries admitted to our hospital who completed the evaluation. After the analysis, the cutoff values were calculated for total false responses, total stop-start, total general and judgment scores, and the non-resumption accuracy was 77% for cases in which≥3 cutoff values were exceeded. The decision tree analysis results suggested that DS evaluation may be useful in determining whether driving can be resumed even in acute care hospitals, while a composite judgment, including neuropsychological testing, is necessary.