An Electric Scooter Simulation Program for Training the Driving Skills of Stroke Patients with Mobility Problems: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This paper describes an electric scooter simulation program and a first evaluation study in which we explored if it is possible to train the driving skills of future users of electric mobility scooters by means of an electric scooter simulation program in addition to conventional electric scooter training. Within this explorative study, 10 stroke survivors were randomly assigned to either the control (n ϭ 5) or the electric scooter simulation intervention group (n ϭ 5). Participants were assessed twice on the functional evaluating rating scale. During the followup measurement, subjective experiences regarding both forms of electric scooter training were elicited by a questionnaire. After a training period of 5 weeks, both groups improved on the Functional Evaluation Rating Scale. It can be concluded that the patients with stroke were satisfied with the electric scooter simulation training. 751

Motorized mobility scooters: the use of training/intervention and technology for improving driving skills in aging adults – a mini review

“…At this point, the search was further defined by specifying only those articles that addressed actual training/interventions and included inclusion criteria based on the entire manuscript, which led to the exclusion of another 18 articles. Six articles were considered to warrant full review, meeting the inclusion criteria, as outlined above [14,[23][24][25][26][27] (Figure 1). When the searches were rerun as previously and when the term "golf cart*" was added, an additional 269 potential articles were identified as potentially relevant.…”

“…Among these, four studies (67%) contained training approaches for MMS drivers [14,[23][24][25][26][27], one study (16.5%) involved infrastructural assessment [26], and one study (16.5%) used mobility assistive tools to improve driving skills/performance [27]. Among selected studies only two (33%) used control groups to demonstrate the benefit of intervention [14,24], and only one study utilized a randomized approach for assigning participants to control or experimental groups [24]. In two articles (33%), new technologies were introduced for improving driving performance [24,27].…”

“…Among selected studies only two (33%) used control groups to demonstrate the benefit of intervention [14,24], and only one study utilized a randomized approach for assigning participants to control or experimental groups [24]. In two articles (33%), new technologies were introduced for improving driving performance [24,27].…”

“…In four studies (67%), participants were recruited with ambulatory complications related to: stroke, chronic obtrusive pulmonary disorder, multiple sclerosis, musculoskeletal disorder, athetoid cerebral palsy, amputation, central nervous system disorder, cerebral vascular accident, orthopedic injury/deformity, and spinal cord injury [23][24][25][26]. In two other studies (33%), interventions were performed on individuals without disabilities [14,27].…”

“…Inclusion criteria regarding prior experience in driving powered mobility devices differed between studies. Two studies (33%) excluded adults with prior MMS driving experience [14,27]; two studies (33%) included adults with prior experience of powered mobility driving [25,26]; and two other studies (33%) did not address subject's prior powered mobility device driving experience [23,24].…”