Evaluation of driving risk in dementia - practice parameter update

For patients with dementia, the following characteristics are useful for identifying
patients at increased risk for unsafe driving:

- Clinical Dementia Rating scale (Level A)
- caregiver’s rating of a patient’s driving ability as marginal or unsafe (Level B)
- history of crashes or traffic citations (Level C)
- reduced driving mileage or self-reported situational avoidance (Level C)
- Mini-Mental State Examination scores of 24 or less (Level C)
- aggressive or impulsive personality characteristics (Level C)


Evaluation of driving risk in dementia (click to enlarge the image).

The following characteristics are not useful for identifying patients at increased risk for unsafe driving:

- patient’s self-rating of safe driving ability (Level A)
- lack of situational avoidance (Level C)

References:

Practice Parameter update: Evaluation and management of driving risk in dementia. Neurology 2010;74:1316–1324 (PDF)

Q&A from CCJM: When should I discuss driving with my older patients? http://buff.ly/1xeoBTw