Fisk, G.D., Owsley, C., & Pulley, L. (1997). Driving after stroke: Driving exposure, advice, and evaluations. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 78, 1338-1345.
Objective: Little is known about the extent to which stroke survivors return to driving and the advice and/or evaluations they receive about driving. The aim of the present study is to estimate the prevalence of driving after stroke, as well as the advice and evaluations that stroke survivors receive about driving.
Design: A convenience sample of stroke survivors was surveyed regarding driving status following stroke, driving exposure, advice received about driving, and evaluation of driving performance.
Participants: 290 stroke survivors between three months to six years post-stroke
Results: The results indicate that 30% of stroke survivors who actively drove before the stroke resume driving following the stroke. Stroke survivors are often poorly informed by health care professionals about driving, with 48% reporting that they did not receive advice about driving and 87% reporting that they did not receive any type of driving evaluation. Almost one-third of post-stroke drivers had high exposure, driving 6-7 days per week and/or 100-200 miles per week.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that many stroke survivors are making decisions about their driving capabilities in the absence of professional advice and evaluation. The present results also suggest that rehabilitation professionals need to devote more attention and resources to driving issues when working with stroke survivors and their families.