Sarah Imhoff1,2, Martin Lavallière3,4,5, Normand Teasdale5,6,7, Philippe Fait1,2,7. 1. Département des sciences de l'activité physique, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada. 2. Groupe de recherche sur les affections neuro-musculo-squelettiques, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, Canada. 3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, Cambridge, MA, USA. 4. Faculté de Médecine, Département de Kinésiologie, Université Laval, QC, Canada. 5. Groupe de recherche en analyse du mouvement et ergonomie, Université Laval, QC, Canada. 6. CHU de Québec- Université Laval, Centre d'excellence sur le vieillissement de Québec, Canada. 7. Centre de recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Montréal, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Due to the heterogeneity of the lesion following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the complexity of the driving task, driving assessment and rehabilitation in TBI individuals is challenging. Conventional driving assessment (on-road and in-clinic evaluations) has failed demonstrating effectiveness to assess fitness to drive in TBI individuals. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine if driving simulators represent an interesting opportunity in assessing and rehabilitating driving skills in TBI individuals. METHODS: We searched PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane library databases between 27-02-2014 and 08-04-2014 for articles published since 2000 with the contents of simulator driving assessment and rehabilitation. RESULTS: Out of 488, eight articles with the subject of simulator driving assessment and two with the subject of simulator driving rehabilitation in individuals with TBI were reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: Driving simulators represent a promising avenue for the assessment and rehabilitation of driving skills in TBI individuals as it allows control of stimuli in a safe, challenging and ecologically valid environment and offer the opportunity to measure and record driving performance. Additional studies, however, are needed to document strengths and limitations of this method.
BACKGROUND: Due to the heterogeneity of the lesion following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the complexity of the driving task, driving assessment and rehabilitation in TBI individuals is challenging. Conventional driving assessment (on-road and in-clinic evaluations) has failed demonstrating effectiveness to assess fitness to drive in TBI individuals. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine if driving simulators represent an interesting opportunity in assessing and rehabilitating driving skills in TBI individuals. METHODS: We searched PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane library databases between 27-02-2014 and 08-04-2014 for articles published since 2000 with the contents of simulator driving assessment and rehabilitation. RESULTS: Out of 488, eight articles with the subject of simulator driving assessment and two with the subject of simulator driving rehabilitation in individuals with TBI were reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: Driving simulators represent a promising avenue for the assessment and rehabilitation of driving skills in TBI individuals as it allows control of stimuli in a safe, challenging and ecologically valid environment and offer the opportunity to measure and record driving performance. Additional studies, however, are needed to document strengths and limitations of this method.