DEMENTIA AND DRIVING - RESULTS OF A SEMI-REALISTIC SIMULATOR STUDY

The objective was to assess the performance of patients with dementia on the DRIVAGE semi-realistic driving simulator task, A study of patie nts with dementia who were continuing to drive a car at the time of as sessment, was undertaken in a specialist Pre-Senile Dementia Clinic at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and a driving si mulator laboratory at King's College, London, It comprised thirteen pa tients diagnosed with dementia (10 Alzheimer's disease, three focal de mentia syndrome), mean age 63 (range 57-71) years, Measured performanc e was judged by an independent rater, blind to diagnosis and neuropsyc hological test results, as either normal or poor by comparison with da ta previously collected on 125 normal older drivers. Secondary perform ance was assessed from objective performance data generated by the sim ulator. The performance of seven patients was rated as normal and that of six as poor, The majority with poor performance could only complet e two of four driving tasks, The normal group scored higher on the Min i Mental State Examination (24 (21-27) vs 17 (13-22)), were less impai red on neuropsychological testing, particularly tasks assessing perfor mance IQ, and had intact perceptual abilities. The results of the stud y demonstrate that patients with dementia can retain their ability to perform a driving task, Loss of this ability is broadly associated wit h progression of the dementia, impaired perception and impairment of n on-verbal intelligence tests. Studies on larger groups of patients in a more comprehensive driving task would be required to demonstrate spe cific markers of loss of driving ability.