Assessing fitness to drive in brain tumour patients: A grey matter of law, ethics, and medicine
Neurocognitive deficits from brain tumours may impair the ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Although certain jurisdictions in Canada legally require that physicians report patients who are unfit to drive, criteria for determining fitness are not clearly defined for brain tumours. Patients receiving brain radiotherapy at the authors' institution from January to June 2009 were identified using the Oncology Patient Information System. In addition to descriptive statistics, details of driving assessment were reviewed retrospectively. The Fisher exact test was used to determine factors predictive of reporting a patient to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) as unfit to drive. A logistic regression model was constructed to further determine factors predictive of reporting. Of the 158 patients available for analysis, 48 (30%) were reported to the MTO, and 64 (41%) were advised to stop driving. With respect to the 53 patients with seizures, a report was submitted to the mto for 30 (57%), and a documented discussion about the implications of driving was held with 35 (66%). On univariate analysis, younger age, a central nervous system primary, higher brain radiotherapy dose, unifocal disease, and the presence of seizures were predictive of physician reporting (p < 0.05). On logistic regression modelling, the presence of seizures (odds ratio: 3.9) and a higher radiotherapy dose (odds ratio: 1.3) remained predictive of reporting. Physicians frequently do not discuss the implications of driving with brain tumour patients or are not properly documenting such advice (or both). Clear and concise reporting guidelines need to be drafted given the legal, medical, and ethical concerns surrounding this public health issue.
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- Record URL:
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/11980052
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Supplemental Notes:
- Copyright © 2013 Multimed Inc.
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Authors:
- Louie, A V
- Chan, E
- Hanna, M
- Bauman, G S
- Fisher, B J
- Palma, D A
- Rodrigues, G B
- Warner, A
- D'Souza, D P
- Publication Date: 2013
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 90-96
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Serial:
- Current Oncology
- Volume: 20
- Issue Number: 2
- Publisher: Multimed Inc.
- ISSN: 1198-0052
- EISSN: 1718-7729
- Serial URL: http://www.current-oncology.com/index.php/oncology/index
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Ability tests; Diseases and medical conditions; Driver performance; Ethics; Evaluation and assessment; Fitness to drive; Guidelines; Legal factors
- Geographic Terms: Ontario (Province)
- Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01481874
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: May 22 2013 11:16AM