title: Prediction of on-road driving performance in patients with early Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Physicians and family members frequently are asked to provide information about driving ability in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet there has been little research on the validity of their assessments of driving performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited from the neurology department of a community hospital affiliated with Brown Medical School.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 75 older adults (17 with mild AD, 33 with very mild AD, and 25 elderly controls).
  
  
  METHODS
  The participant him/herself, an informant, and an experienced neurologist rated each participant's driving ability on a 3-point rating scale (safe, marginal, unsafe). A professional driving instructor also completed a standardized 108-point on-road driving assessment of each participant and then rated driving ability on the 3-point scale. Ratings were compared with the on-road driving score and with each other.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only the neurologist's rating of the participants' driving abilities was significantly related to on-road driving score. When related to the instructor's safety rating, the neurologist's ratings were the most sensitive and specific. Mini-Mental State Examination score was a borderline covariate for the neurologist's rating. Overall, the instructor was the most stringent rater of participant driving ability, followed by the neurologist, the informant, and the participant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An experienced neurologist's assessment of driving competence may be a valid predictor of driving performance of patients with early AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Laura_B_Brown@Brown.edu <Laura_B_Brown@Brown.edu>
authors.forename: Laura B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: George D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Papandonatos
authors.forename: Yunxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ready
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis