Ability and fitness to drive of Parkinson's disease patients.
The authors review reports in the literature on the fitness and ability to drive of neurosurgical patients and subjects afflicted by neurological disorders, before focusing on their own series of 204 idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The study sample comprised 173 men and 31 women (average age 70.6 and 74.2 years, respectively) of whom 51, for various reasons, still drove (albeit only short distances). Different variables were examined (Hoehn & Yahr scale values (of the total group and of the subgroup of active drivers), scores for various clinical diseases, and so on) looking for an association between these variables and the number of accidents incurred by PD patients as compared with the healthy population and with a control group of healthy age-matched subjects (ISTAT data). The need for adequate legislation on driving in PD emerges clearly and recommendations are given on which such legislation might be based.
Borromei
A
A
Institute of Clinical Neurology, University of Bologna, Italy.
Caramelli
R
R
Chieregatti
G
G
d'Orsi
U
U
Guerra
L
L
Lozito
A
A
Vargiu
B
B
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012307:Risk Factors; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014796:Visual Perception