The effect of wearing a restrictive neck brace on driver performance.
OBJECTIVE
Thousands of Americans are prescribed cervical orthoses each year. These orthoses restrict motion, which may influence the patient's driving performance. No legal restrictions exist that prohibit patients from wearing cervical orthoses while driving. No study addressing this issue has been published to date. Thus, we sought to assess the effects of wearing a restrictive neck brace on driver performance on the open road.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective, randomized block design study in 23 volunteers. Twenty-three adult licensed drivers from the state of Iowa were recruited. Evaluation of neck motion was performed with and without the rigid cervical orthosis. On-road performance testing was conducted with the use of a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory. Drivers were randomly assigned to one of two testing groups. Each driver was evaluated during two separate drives. Volunteers in Group A (n = 11) wore a neck brace for the first drive but not during the second. Participants in Group B (n = 12) did not wear a neck brace in the first drive but did for the second. The assessment included velocity, acceleration, cervical axial rotation, and evaluation of the driver's blind spot.


RESULTS
Driving performance measures were collected and analyzed for both drives. Wearing a cervical orthosis resulted in decreased velocity (P < 0.05), decreased lateral acceleration (P < 0.05), decreased axial rotation (P < 0.05), inadequate evaluation of intersection traffic, and an increase in the blind spot.


CONCLUSIONS
A rigid cervical orthosis alters driver performance.
Barry
Christopher J
CJ
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
Smith
Darin
D
Lennarson
Peter
P
Jermeland
Julie
J
Darling
Warren
W
Stierman
Laura
L
Rizzo
Matthew
M
Traynelis
Vincent C
VC
D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001915:Braces / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007103:Immobilization / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis