Do self-reported concussions have cumulative or enduring effects on drivers' anticipation of traffic hazards?
To investigate the cumulative effect of multiple self-reported concussions and the enduring effect of concussion on drivers' hazard perception ability. It was hypothesized: (1) that individuals reporting multiple previous concussions would be slower to anticipate traffic hazards than individuals reporting either one previous concussion or none; and (2) that individuals reporting a concussion within the past 3 months would be slower to anticipate traffic hazards than individuals reporting either an earlier concussion or no prior concussion.



Two hundred and eighty-two predominantly young drivers (nconcussed = 68, Mage = 21.57 years, SDage = 6.99 years, 66% female) completed a validated hazard perception test (HPT) and measures of emotional, cognitive, health and driving status.



A one-way analysis of variance showed that there was no significant effect of concussion number on HPT response times. Similarly, pairwise comparisons showed no significant differences between the HPT response times of individuals reporting a concussion within the previous 3 months, individuals reporting an earlier concussion and the never concussed group.



The findings suggest that previous concussions do not adversely affect young drivers' ability to anticipate traffic hazards; however, due to reliance on self-reports of concussion history, further prospective longitudinal research is needed.
a Griffith University Brisbane , QLD , Australia.|b Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service , Brisbane , QLD , Australia.
Megan H W
MH
Preece
c The University of Queensland , Brisbane , QLD , Australia.
Mark S
MS
Horswill
a Griffith University Brisbane , QLD , Australia.
Tamara
T
Ownsworth
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Brain concussion; automobile driving; fitness-to-drive; hazard perception skill; mild head injury; motor vehicles