Parkinson's Disease and Driving Cessation: a Journey Influenced by Anxiety

In addition to the motor and cognitive symptoms that people with Parkinson's disease (PD) typically experience, psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety are also commonly experienced by people with PD. The overall purpose of the current study was to explore driving and driving cessation for people with PD and their families.

A descriptive phenomenological approach was employed using semi-structured interviews and 34 interviews were conducted overall (22 participants with PD and 12 family members).

Experiences of anxiety and worry that had an impact on driving and driving cessation arose from the data, and this article specifically captured the lived experience of anxiety with driving and driving cessation for people with PD and their families.

Findings reveal that the experience of anxiety while driving, as well as anticipatory anxiety and/or worry related to driving cessation, affect the driving experiences and wellbeing of people with PD.

Implications of the study findings are outlined and aim to provide information about the needs to enable future clinical directions to be developed.