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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Driving, dementia and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
— a survey of old age psychiatrists | | Author(s) | Anitha Naidu, Ian G McKeith |
| Journal title | Psychiatric Bulletin, vol 30, no 7, July 2006 |
| Pages | pp 265-268 |
| Source | http://pb.rcpsych.org |
| Keywords | Driving capability ; Dementia ; Mental disorder ; Psychiatrists ; Attitude ; Social surveys ; North West England. |
| Annotation | Old age psychiatrists in north-west England were surveyed to determine what they considered relevant indicators of driving ability. The survey asked them about satisfaction with the current Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) procedure of assessing competence to drive in patients with dementia, and how they thought this could be improved. 57 out of 75 psychiatrists (75%) responded. 26 (45%) respondents thought the forms issued by the DVLA were unsatisfactory, but 32 (57%) were satisfied with the eventual decisions made about individual patients. Factors thought to be relevant indicators of driving ability were occupational therapy (n=46, 81%), neuropsychological assessments (n=43, 75%) and carer's report of driving (n=48, 84%). Factors thought not to be relevant were a patient's report of driving ability (n=13, 23%), and the Mini Mental State Examination - MMSE (n=21, 38%). The current system for determining driving ability for people with cognitive impairment and dementia was felt to be unsatisfactory. A multidisciplinary approach and use of on-road driving assessments may improve decision-making. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-060918201 A |
| Classmark | OPF: EA: E: QT9: DP: 3F: 82NW |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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