A laboratory driving simulation for assessment of driving behavior in adults with ADHD: a controlled study.
BACKGROUND
It is now estimated that attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) afflicts at least 4% of adults in the United States and is associated with high levels of morbidity and functional impairment. One key area of dysfunction associated with ADHD is impaired motor vehicle operation. Our goal was to examine the association between ADHD and specific driving outcomes in a sample of adults using a driving simulator.


METHODS
Subjects were 20 adults with full DSM-IV ADHD and 21 controls without ADHD of equal gender distribution. However, the mean age of subjects with ADHD was somewhat older. All analyses were adjusted for age and gender. All subjects participated in a driving simulation that lasted for one hour and consisted of a short training period, a high stimulus segment and a low stimulus segment with two distinct monotonous periods.


RESULTS
In the second monotonous period within the low stimulus environment, ADHD subjects were significantly more likely than controls to collide with an obstacle suddenly appearing from the periphery, adjusting for age and gender.


CONCLUSIONS
Adults with ADHD were more likely than controls to collide with an obstacle during a driving simulation suggesting that deficits in directed attention may underlie driving impairments in this population.
Biederman
Joseph
J
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Fried
Ronna
R
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
Monuteaux
Michael C
MC
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Reimer
Bryan
B
MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-276 Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Coughlin
Joseph F
JF
MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-276 Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Surman
Craig B
CB
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Aleardi
Megan
M
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
Dougherty
Meghan
M
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
Schoenfeld
Steven
S
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
Spencer
Thomas J
TJ
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Faraone
Stephen V
SV
Medical Genetics Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.