This article reviews studies of automobile accident frequency among drivers with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The authors identified well-designed, controlled studies of driving and AD using the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE database. The authors identified 218 studies in the original search; 21 additional articles were added from review of references in the selected articles and 2 articles were included that were published after the original MEDLINE search. The authors also compared the relative rates of crashes and other performance of driving ability in the populations studied. Driving was found to be mildly impaired in those drivers with a severity of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). This impairment was no greater than that tolerated in of the driving population (e.g., drivers age 16-21 and those driving under the influence of alcohol at concentration). Drivers with AD at a severity of CDR 1 were found to pose a significant problem both from crashes and from driving performance measurements. Classes of evidence and levels of recommendations are appended. (A)
Samenvatting