To the Editor: Return to driving following a stroke is a complex issue. Austroads provides general guidelines1 and the National Stroke Foundation recommends a process including off-road and on-road driving tests.2 On-road assessments conducted by occupational therapists are considered the gold standard for decision making on return to driving following a stroke. Limited access is available to off-road and on-road tests across Australia, with few occupational therapists qualified to assess driving ability. Additionally, a range of off-road assessments are used for patients who have had a stroke. General practitioners, who are instrumental in managing return to driving, often base their decisions on limited information regarding functional status, particularly in terms of vision, cognition and perception. Rehabilitation physicians generally have access to more detailed information from allied health staff on which to base their decisions on driving ability.
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- 1. Austroads. Assessing fitness to drive for commercial and private vehicle drivers — medical standards for licensing and clinical management guidelines. Sydney: Austroads, 2003.
- 2. National Stroke Foundation. Clinical guidelines for stroke management. Melbourne, NSF: 2010: 114.
- 3. Visual Awareness. UFOV user’s guide. Chicago: VA, 2002.
- 4. Lincoln NB, Radford KA, Nouri FM. Stroke Drivers Screening Assessment: revised manual. Nottingham: University of Nottingham, 2004.
- 5. George S, Crotty M. Establishing criterion validity of the Useful Field of View assessment and the Stroke Drivers’ Screening Assessment: comparison to the results of on-road assessment. Am J Occup Ther 2010; 64: 114-122.
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