title: A laboratory driving simulation for assessment of driving behavior in adults with ADHD: a controlled study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biederman
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Ronna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Monuteaux
authors.affiliation: MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-276 Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reimer
authors.affiliation: MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-276 Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Coughlin
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Craig B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Surman
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aleardi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schoenfeld
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone