Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Simple Tests Can Tell Who Can Drive After Stroke Study

http://www.drugs.com/news/simple-tests-can-tell-can-drive-after-stroke-study-29680.html
MONDAY, Feb. 21 -- A new review of existing research contends that three brief tests could help doctors figure out whether recovering stroke patients are well enough to drive.
"A quick and objective screening in the doctor's office can help them to make more accurate decisions," said review author Hannes Devos, a research assistant at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.
However, several U.S. stroke experts said they weren't ready to accept the new study's findings.

The American Heart Association estimates that 6.4 million stroke survivors are alive in the United States today. While some patients are able to recover with few permanent disabilities, strokes can cause some people to permanently lose memory and the ability to properly move their bodies.
In some cases, patients with serious motor-skill problems can still drive a car as long as they're able to get proper equipment, such as an automatic transmission, a left-sided accelerator pedal for patients who have trouble moving their right side, and steering knobs that allow one-handed driving, Devos said.
Stroke patients may need to get approval from a physician before they can legally begin driving again, but evaluation processes in the office can sometimes be a challenge. "Some physicians do not feel confident to screen for fitness to drive because they lack standardized tools that can be administered in the doctor's office," Devos said.
With that in mind, Devos and colleagues reviewed 30 surveys and included 27 in an overall statistical analysis. In total, the studies evaluated various screening tests before patients took on-road driving tests; 54 percent of 1,728 patients (average age 61) passed the driving tests.
The researchers found that three screening tests had accuracy levels of 80 percent to 85 percent for determining how patients would fare on an on-road driving test. One of the tests asks patients to match road signs to driving situations. Another requires patients to match cue cards in a mockup of a driving roundabout or rotary. The third test asks patients to connect 25 circles while alternating between numbers and letters in consecutive order, Devos said.
The tests only take about 15 minutes and doctors can easily administer them during a routine visit, Devos said.
So should the tests be administered?
Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, professor of medicine and director of the Duke Stroke Center at Duke University Medical Center, is skeptical, pointing out that the tests didn't correctly identify 15 percent to 20 percent of unsafe drivers, and they may also fail to identify safe drivers.
"I am not sure whether it is practical to include a formal driving assessment as part of the routine post-stroke follow-up visit or whether the cost would be reimbursed," he said, adding that patients can choose to be tested in a driving simulator before hitting the road as part of a test.
Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver, a professor of neurology and director of the University of California, Los Angeles Stroke Center, said the office tests might be helpful if patients and families aren't sure whether to spend money on on-road driving tests.
"However, on-road assessment will remain the gold standard and likely will continue as the approach generally pursued by physicians for patients with deficits that could potentially impair driving," he said.

I really doubt that any written or oral test could tell if you are prepared. There are so many distractions while driving that you have to be able to distinguish what to focus on and what to ignore.

2 comments:

  1. Actually Dean, that 3rd one would be helpful IF the stroke survivor if willing to accept it. I have had more accidences because my reaction time is slow because of the disability. Out of what I thought was neccesity, I drove for over 20 years with no restrictions. That was a huge mistake. That 3rd test would have shown me that I should NEVER drive in heavy traffic or when I'm stressed.

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  2. I have been working on getting my license back for almost a year now and it is a paperwork nightmare.

    The neurologist who saw me sent an ambiguous general report back to my doctor. My doctor forwarded it to the license board. They are now demanding that the neurologist reevaluate me. He has, in the meantime, moved to the states and therefore not available to me.

    I really think I could drive just fine, but I sure would like the opportunity to be proven right or wrong about now.

    Linda

    http://leadingahealthylife.blogspot.com/

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