Association of Age and Neurological Severity at Intensive Care Unit Admission With Driving Resumption Within 30 Days of Stroke: A Single-Center Historical Cohort Study

Objectives Guidelines in several countries recommend against driving soon after a stroke; however, some patients resume driving within one month after onset. This study aimed to examine the relationship between neurological and social background factors at intensive care unit (ICU) admission and resumption of motor vehicle driving within 30 days of the first acute stroke/cerebral hemorrhage. Materials and methods Data were extracted from medical records of a single center linked to the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Administration Office for Stroke Data Bank in Japan. The data included age, sex, Japan Coma Scale (JCS), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), employment status, family situation, and outcomes of driving resumption in patients with a valid driving license transported to the ICU within 24 hours of stroke onset. Time-to-event analysis was used to explore the associations between these factors and driving resumption, with data censored 30 days from onset. Results In total, 239 patients had complete medical records, of whom 66 resumed driving. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that fewer patients aged ≥65 years resumed driving than those aged <65 years (hazard ratio 0.46; 95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.84; p=0.009). Patients with NIHSS scores ≥5 and JCS scores ≥1 were also less likely to resume driving compared with those with scores <5 (0.22; 0.08-0.56; p=0.008) and 0 (0.13; 0.04-0.37; p<0.001), respectively. Conclusions Age, NIHSS score, and JCS score at ICU admission are independently associated with the likelihood of resuming driving within 30 days of stroke onset. These findings may aid with the provision of support and education to facilitate the efficient resumption of driving after an acute event.