Clinician Assessment of the Driving Competence of Patients with Dementia

This article reports on a study undertaken to determine the validity and reliability of clinician ratings of the driving competence of patients with mild dementia. The observational study included a cross-section of 50 drivers with mild dementia, based on chart review by clinicians with varying types of expertise and experience. The clinicians rated each driver as safe, marginal, or unsafe. A professional driving instructor compared these ratings with total driving scores on a standardized road test and categorical ratings of driving competence. Results showed that accuracy of clinician ratings ranged from 62% to 78% for the instructor’s global rating of safe versus marginal or unsafe. In general, there was moderate accuracy and interrater reliability. The authors note that accuracy could have been improved in the least-accurate raters by greater attention to dementia duration and severity ratings, as well as less reliance on the history and physical examination. The authors conclude that although a clinician may be able to identify many potentially hazardous drivers, the accuracy achieved in insufficient to state that a clinician’s assessment alone is adequate to determine driving competence in those with mild dementia.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00028614
• Authors:
  • Ott, Brian R
  • Anthony, David
  • Papandonatos, George D
  • D’Abreu, Anelyssa
  • Burock, Jeffrey
  • Curtin, Alicia
  • Wu, Chuang-Kuo
  • Morris, John C
• Publication Date: 2005-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 829-833
• Serial:
  • Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
  • Volume: 53
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
  • ISSN: 0002-8614
  • EISSN: 1532-5415
  • Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1532-5415

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Dementia; Detection and identification; High risk drivers; Highway safety; Impaired drivers; Mental condition; Mental disorders; Psychological aspects; Reliability; Risk assessment; Validity
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01003888
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 7 2005 6:53AM