Effectiveness of a Driving Intervention on Safe Community Mobility for Returning Combat Veterans
Abstract
Intervention for combat veterans driving safety requires a multi-factorial approach to address the often co-occurring effects of TBI, PTSD other blast related injuries sustained by combat veterans as well as the impact of deployment experiences on their driving. Intervention provides critical information on the combat veterans driving fitness, impact of medical and psychological conditions on driving, and driving rehabilitation needs. Effective driving interventions have potential to increase driving safety and reduce MVC and the resulting injuries and deaths. Furthermore, promoting driving fitness may also have carryover effects supporting other key arenas of community re-integration such as family functioning, employment, participation in society, and satisfaction with life. In our efficacy study we demonstrated the feasibility of our intervention, and early data suggest efficacy of the OT-DI for combat veterans with mild TBI, PTSD, and/or orthopedic conditions. The efficacy study did however have limitations including a small sample, attrition, and mostly male subjects. In our current effectiveness study we are seeking to expand our study sample, providing power for more detailed analyses of OT-DI outcomes include reduction of driving errors (measured via simulated driving evaluation), as well as real world outcomes. Ours is the first study to look at impact of an occupational therapy driving intervention on driving difficulty and driving fitness as measured in an on-road evaluation. Additional measures include proxy report of Veteran driving difficulty, and violations, citations, and crashes based on state department of motor vehicle records.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1106315
Entities
People
- Sherrilene Classen
Organizations
- University of Florida