Medical restrictions to driving: the awareness of patients and doctors

Abstract

SummaryThe study was set up to investigate the awareness of elderly patients and medical doctors of medical restrictions to driving. Separate questionnaires were completed by patients and doctors. All were interviewed face-to-face, without prior warning and their immediate answers were recorded. In total, 150 elderly patients from the acute elderly care wards, rehabilitation wards and day hospital, and 50 doctors (including all grades from consultant to junior house oYcer) were interviewed. The main outcome measures were numbers of patients currently driving and previously driving; patients' awareness of how their medical condition aVected their ability to drive; doctors' spontaneous knowledge of medical conditions which restrict driving, current licensing policy, and restrictions for five specific medical conditions (epilepsy, myocardial infarction, stroke, 5-cm abdominal aortic aneurysm, and diabetes). Only 21 patients were current drivers, and six of these should not have been driving. While 103 perceived themselves eligible to drive, 46 had medical restrictions to driving. Seventeen of the 47 patients who perceived themselves not eligible to drive possibly did not have restrictions to driving. Doctors' knowledge of the current licensing policy and action to be taken if a patient was not eligible to drive was very poor. Knowledge of medical restrictions to driving was scanty, with few doctors giving the correct driving restrictions for the five specific conditions. We recommend that education of doctors regarding medical restrictions to driving should begin at an undergraduate level and be continued throughout their postgraduate career.

Medical restrictions to driving: the awareness of patients and doctors

“…Editor —Kelly et al 's study of knowledge of medical restrictions on driving reveals worrying deficits in doctors' knowledge 1. This accords with results of previous studies2 concerning knowledge of psychiatrists, but contrasts with a comparable study of knowledge3 after dissemination of the Driving Vehicle Licence Authority's (DVLA) “at a glance guidelines” 4…”

Aging Baby Boomers—A Blessing or Challenge for Driver Licensing Authorities

“…Other barriers to physician engagement include the lack of physician knowledge on reporting Downloaded by [Baskent Universitesi] at 11:05 21 December 2014 policies and procedures (Cable Reisner, Gerges, and Thirumavalavan, 2000;Gillespie and McMurdo, 1999;Kelly, Warke, and Steele, 1999;Marshall and Gilbert, 1999), statutory protection for physician reporting, as well as the absence of valid and reliable in-office assessment tools.…”

Impact of New Guidelines and Educational Program on Awareness of Medical Fitness to Drive Among General Practitioners in Ireland

“…A study in 1996 of GPs referring patients to syncope clinics showed them to be unclear about their responsibilities: only 13% of syncope patients were questioned on their driving by their doctor (MacMahon et al 1996). A study in 1999 in Northern Ireland also demonstrated low awareness; of 50 GPs (2%), one doctor was aware of the availability of the UK Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) guidelines, 14% (7) could not answer the question, and the remaining 84% (42) gave a range of responses, including contacting the police and the British National Formulary (Kelly et al 1999). Nearly 25% of the 1,000 Canadian physicians in another survey were not aware of the Canadian Medical Association handbook Determining Medical Fitness to Drive: A Guide for Physicians (Jang et al 2007).…”