Recommendations for Driving After Neuropsychological Assessment: A Survey of Neuropsychologists

Objective: To determine which patient, provider and practice-related characteristics are associated with increased likelihood of driving-related recommendations following a neuropsychological evaluation.

Method: A total of 309 clinical neuropsychologists completed a survey evaluating the frequency with which they made various driving-related recommendations (e.g., take an on-road driving test) to a variety of clinical populations. Information regarding patient characteristics (e.g., perceived likelihood of adhering to recommendations), provider-related characteristics (e.g., years in practice) and practice-related characteristics (e.g., region of North America) were also collected. Correlation coefficients and multiple linear regressions controlling for patient diagnoses were used to examine which characteristics predicted greater likelihood of driving recommendations broadly. Significant characteristics were then entered into regressions to examine independent contributions of each characteristic to the likelihood of each individual driving recommendation.

Results: Neuropsychologists reported giving a range of driving recommendations to most clinical populations, with the exception of patients with psychiatric diagnoses. Several characteristics (e.g., patient impairment) were associated with greater likelihood of driving recommendations broadly. After controlling for diagnoses, three significant predictors emerged: higher frequency of individualized recommendations, greater caregiver presence, and greater number of recommendations given. All three characteristics generally predicted frequency of all individual driving recommendations.

Conclusions: While patients’ diagnoses may be indicative of whether they receive driving-related recommendations, certain patient and provider-related factors also uniquely contribute to the likelihood of driving-related recommendations after neuropsychological assessment.