Steering Through Concussion Health Care: Driving Recommendations and Management in Irish and Canadian Athletic...

Driving requires continuous sensorimotor and cognitive coordination for extended time periods, and these are commonly impaired domains postconcussion. The postconcussion driving management practices and opinions of health care providers such as athletic trainers/therapists (ATs) are essential for effective patient recommendations but have yet to be examined outside of the United States.

To examine postconcussion driving management practices and opinion among Irish and Canadian ATs and to explore whether concussion assessments, highest earned degree, practice setting, or years of experience associate with postconcussion driving management practices.

Cross-sectional study.

Online survey.

Fifty-three Irish and 166 Canadian ATs.

A previously validated survey capturing demographics, self-reported management practices, and opinions for refraining from (ie, stopping) and restricting (ie, limiting) driving.

The majority (50.9%) of Irish and Canadian ATs (69.9%) endorsed that they always or sometimes recommended refraining from driving, respectively. Both cohorts commonly used verbal instructions (Irish ATs: 86.8%, Canadian ATs: 90.4%). Irish ATs (58.5%) favored sideline assessments, and Canadian ATs (56.6%) favored clinical examinations to determine driving readiness. Despite agreeing or strongly agreeing that patients with a concussion pose a danger on the road (Irish ATs: 72%, Canadian ATs: 46.6%), approximately 10% of Irish and Canadian ATs reported never recommending driving restrictions. Weak correlations were observed between years of experience and the number of restrictions recommended for Irish and Canadian ATs (Ρ range, -.15 to .05).

We observed that Irish and Canadian ATs overall have similar practices and opinions on postconcussion driving management. The lack of uniform recommendations and written instructions regarding safe return-to-driving management practices after concussion resulted in reliance on verbal advice. Our findings emphasize the need for clear and consistent guidelines related to driving after concussion.