Driving impairment in patients with movement disorders: examining the Baylor driving questionnaire by objective driving assessment.

BACKGROUND

The development of a screening tool to identify driving impairment in patients with movement disorders is an unmet need.

OBJECTIVE

To validate Baylor Driving Questionnaire for Movement Disorders (BDQMD) by objective driving assessment (ODA).

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 142 patients with various movement disorders completed the 10-item BDQMD and of those, 25 completed ODA using the driver performance analysis system (DPAS).

RESULTS

The mean total BDQMD score for the whole cohort was 14.7 ± 5.6 (range 10-47). Patients who underwent ODA had a mean BDQMD score of 12.8 ± 2.9. Four had minimum driving skill, 20 had average, and 1 was highly skilled. Total BDQMD negatively correlated with overall DPAS score (r = -0.45, p = 0.025) and the score reflecting the traffic risk analysis (r = -0.41, p = 0.041).

CONCLUSION

BDQMD total score in this pilot study correlated well with the performance in ODA. Additional validation studies are warranted to explore its potential as a screening tool for driving impairment.