Driving after stroke: a controlled laboratory investigation

The importance of illness or disability for traffic safety is unknown. By means of a mock car, 46 individuals suffering from left-sided hemiparesis and 67 with right-sided hemiparesis after stroke were compared with 109 healthy controls. Only patients without complicating disorders were included in the study groups. They coped far worse than the control group in almost all respects. Reaction times were longer, not merely for the paretic but also for the contralateral extremities. Strength in the 'healthy' part of the body was also significantly reduced. Sometimes patients completely failed to react to given signals. In right-sided hemiparesis a high frequency of directional errors was observed. Neuropsychological functional disorders were well in accordance with the number of erroneous reactions, but to only a minor extent with reaction times. The results of the mock car test could not be predicted on the basis of mere clinical examination.