PSIGE (British Psychological Society Special Interest Group in the Elderly) has established a working party to validate a group of psychological tests which can be used as a screen to exclude those unfit to drive prior to an on-road assessment. In order to estimate the population at risk, a pilot study is under way in West Glamorgan, Gwent, and Denbigh. The aim is to establish how many of those referred to psychogeriatric services, suffering from dementia, (a) hold a driving licence, and (b) drive. The patients will be sub-divided into two groups on clinical grounds. The first is mild to moderate, and the second is moderate to severe dementia. It is hoped that it will be possible to extrapolate the figures obtained to the population of the United Kingdom as a whole as a prelude to setting up an assessment service.
Samenvatting