Abstract
Objective:
To investigate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a driving simulator intervention on driving outcomes following acquired brain injury.
Design:
Pilot randomised controlled trial.
Setting:
Occupational therapy driver assessment and rehabilitation service.
Subjects:
Individuals post-acquired brain injury aiming to return to driving.
Intervention:
Eight sessions of simulated driver training over four weeks, in addition to usual care. Control: Usual care only.
Main measures:
Feasibility outcomes: Participant recruitment and retention; data completeness; therapy attendance and fidelity; adverse events. Performance outcomes: on-road driving performance; Simulator Sickness Questionnaire; Brain Injury Driving Self-Awareness Measure and Driving Comfort Scale – Daytime, assessed at baseline and five weeks post-randomisation.
Results:
Out of 523 individuals screened, 22 (4%) were recruited and randomised, with 20 completing their allocated group (n = 12 Simulator, n = 8 Usual Care). For those who completed training, session attendance was 100% with simulator sickness rated, on average, as mild. Six individuals (50%) in the Simulator group failed the on-road assessment, versus two (25%) in the Usual Care group (P = 0.373). On average, the Simulator group reported a positive change in confidence ratings (M = 5.77, SD = 13.96) compared to the Usual Care group, who reported a negative change (M = −6.97, SD = 8.47), P = 0.034. The Simulator group (M = 0.67, SD = 3.34) demonstrated no significant change in self-awareness relative to the Usual Care group (M = −0.83, SD = 1.83, P = 0.325).
Conclusions:
With adjustments to inclusion criteria and recruitment strategies, it may be feasible to deliver the intervention and conduct a larger trial. There is potential benefit of simulator training for improving driver confidence after acquired brain injury.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
