The Challenge
A 74-year-old male was hospitalized following a stroke caused by atrial fibrillation. During the hospitalization he had contracted pneumonia and was diagnosed with accelerated hypertension. He underwent one week of inpatient rehabilitation and after being released, the patient wanted to return to driving.
The condition he was in, and the medications he was taking, suggested he could no longer drive safely. He was tested with the DriveABLE Cognitive Assessment Tool and received a 75% probability that he would fail a specialized on-road test. He did not continue driving at that time.
The Solution
- The client spent the next month receiving outpatient physical and occupational therapy. He was then retested with a DriveABLE assessment to determine the current probability of a potential incident in an on-road test.
- The DriveABLE Cognitive Assessment Tool (DCAT) and the DriveABLE On-Road Evaluation (DORE) were developed through 8 years of university research.
- The DCAT is the only cognitive assessment tool shown to be highly predictive of actual on-road performance.
- The test took 39 minutes to complete and was administered by a certified technician who guided the client through the process thoroughly before each task was started.
The Results
For the second DCAT, the client received a score of 15%, indicating that his driving privileges could be safely restored. He worked closely with his physician to ensure that every red flag was considered, and every physiological requirement for driving was examined.
With the help of DriveABLE, the physician was able to recommend the client be allowed to resume driving and, in doing so, restored confidence in the client and his family.