title: Assessing the driving performance of a person with epilepsy presurgery and postsurgery.
abstract: Occupational therapists and certified driving rehabilitation specialists are uniquely skilled to assess functional abilities underlying driving performance. However, little information exists on the utility of clinical assessments to determine driving performance in people with epilepsy. This case study demonstrates how an occupational therapy evaluation battery was used to examine differences in visual and cognitive abilities and simulated driving performance before and after epilepsy surgery. Specifically, a 43-yr-old White man with right anterior lobe epilepsy underwent temporal lobectomy and had his driving-related abilities and simulated driving performance assessed pre- and postsurgery. The occupational therapy evaluation indicated improvements in executive skills, attention, and information processing speed postsurgery. Visuospatial abilities worsened after surgery, likely contributing to the modest increase in vehicle position errors on the driving simulator. Nevertheless, simulated driving performance improved after temporal lobectomy. Reductions in the number of visual scanning, lane maintenance, and speed regulation errors were recorded.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mobility, Activity and Participation, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Crizzle
authors.forename: Sherrilene
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Classen
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: LaFranca
authors.forename: Sandra M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: Steven N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Roper
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eisenschenk
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D038481:Anterior Temporal Lobectomy / Q000379:methods / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001334:Automobile Driving; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome