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In some instances, stroke survivors are not allowed to drive after stroke. How does this affect day-to-day activities?  The ability to drive to shop, make doctor’s appointments, and socialize is very important to well-being and independence after stroke.

In Belgium, patients who have experienced a stroke and want to drive are referred to the Belgian Institute for Driving. They are given a pre-driving assessment. The assessment for driving includes a medical examination, visual and neuropsychological testing, and a road test.

A 2001 study sought to discover if a set of visual and neuropsychological testing would be predictive of how well someone who has had a stroke would do on driving tests. The visual tests used were: near and far vision, depth perception, and attention to moving objects. Neuropsychological testing included: testing for divided attention, selective attention, visual searching, and scanning. Patients selected for the testing had an average age of 57 years and consisted of 82 men and 22 women.

At the conclusion of the study, a very high relationship between driving and experience and age was revealed. The pre-driving assessment was shown to only have moderate accuracy in predicting driving ability. The road-driving test was found to be the best determinant of the stroke patient’s ability to drive.

From this study, the relationship of four things seemed most reliable for pre-driving testing; these include the side of the brain damaged, the ability to recognize objects in movement, scanning, and the road test. To date, road testing for stroke patients has not been standardized, and the authors suggest a further study using tests more closely resembling road situations and combination with a revised pre-driving assessment.

For more information: “Determinants of Driving After Stroke,” A. Akinwuntan, PT, MS; H. Feys, PT, PhD; W. DeWeerdt, PT, PhD; G. Baten, OT; E. Strypstein, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, volume 85, issue 2, p. 324-328, 2002.