The study objective was to provide an accident rate and driving pattern follow-up of patients six to nine years after brain injury. Study design consisted of postal questionnaires sent to brain injured patients assessed consecutively from 1997-2000 who were reissued. Study subjects totaled 93 people, of which 24 were women and 69 were men. Subject mean age was 57 years and post injury years averaged nine. Sixty five people experienced brain injury after cerebrovascular accidents, and 28 experienced traumatic brain injury. The study questionnaire consisted of self-reported care taken in driving, behavior in traffic, yearly distance driven, and driving accident pre- and post-injury. Among the cerebrovascular accident group, there was a significant reduction in post-injury driving, as well as changed driving patterns. Among the traumatic brain injury group, there were no significant changes found in distance driven and driving patterns. In the cerebrovascular accident group, reported accidents post-injury showed no increased accident rate in comparison to normative data, while in the traumatic brain injury group, the accident rate was more than two times higher. The authors conclude that traumatic brain injury patients represent a post-injury accident risk group, while those who experience brain injury post-cerebrovascular accident do not. There is discussion of possible causes for this difference.
Samenvatting