Ability and fitness to drive of Parkinson's disease patients.

Full Abstract

The authors review reports in the literature on the fitness and ability to drive of neurosurgical patients and subjects afflicted by neurological disorders, before focusing on their own series of 204 idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The study sample comprised 173 men and 31 women (average age 70.6 and 74.2 years, respectively) of whom 51, for various reasons, still drove (albeit only short distances). Different variables were examined (Hoehn & Yahr scale values (of the total group and of the subgroup of active drivers), scores for various clinical diseases, and so on) looking for an association between these variables and the number of accidents incurred by PD patients as compared with the healthy population and with a control group of healthy age-matched subjects (ISTAT data). The need for adequate legislation on driving in PD emerges clearly and recommendations are given on which such legislation might be based.

Author information

Author/s: Borromei, A (A); Caramelli, R (R); Chieregatti, G (G); d'Orsi, U (U); Guerra, L (L); Lozito, A (A); Vargiu, B (B);

Affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurology, University of Bologna, Italy.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Functional neurology (Funct Neurol), published in ITALY. (Language: eng)

Reference: -1999 Oct-Dec; vol 14 (issue 4) : pp 227-34

Dates: Created 2000/04/11; Completed 2000/04/11; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 10713896, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

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