Is Driving Safe with Upper Limb Plaster Casts? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Driving with a Short Arm Cast in a Simulator
Journal of orthopaedic surgery, 2015
Purpose. To test the ability to steer in a driving simulator in subjects with a short arm cast. Methods. 17 men and 13 women aged 23 to 67 (mean, 37) years who had a valid driver's licence were randomised to the cast-first group (n=16; 7 had the cast on the dominant arm) or the cast-second group (n=14; 8 had the cast on the dominant arm) and drove in a simulator. A short arm plaster-of-Paris cast was applied in a neutral position, allowing free movement of the metacarpophalangeal joints, thumb, and elbow joint. Outcome measures included the number of driving off track instances, the number of crashes, the lap time, and the effect of hand dominance on these parameters. Subjects were asked whether the cast had impeded their steering ability. Results. Subjects with or without a cast were comparable in terms of the number of driving off track instances, number of crashes, and lap time. Compared with no cast, the odds ratio (OR) of a subject in a cast driving off the track was 1.02
Driving ability following upper limb amputation
Prosthetics & Orthotics International, 2013
Background: In the existing literature, there is scarce information about subjects with upper limb amputation and driving. Objectives: The aim of this study was to find out how frequently subjects following upper limb amputation have problems when driving; most frequently proposed adaptations and, when possible, factors that influence driving ability. Study design: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Medical records were reviewed of all subjects following upper limb amputation who had been amputated in the last 5 years and those with congenital upper limb deficiency who in the last 5 years turned 17. Results: Out of 37 subjects, 7 did not attend the clinic for assessment of driving abilities. They were significantly older at the time of the amputation ( p < 0.001). To the remaining 30 who attended driving assessment, zero to four car adaptations (two on average) were proposed. There were no correlations between the number of suggested car adaptations and the age at the time of...
Effects of Upper Extremity Immobilization and Use of a Spinner Knob on Vehicle Steering
HAND, 2016
Background: A person’s ability to safely drive while immobilized is not well defined. Steering ability with a spinner knob during immobilization is unknown. The goal of this study is to further clarify the effect of immobilization on steering reaction time and accuracy with and without a steering wheel spinner knob. Methods: Twenty participants were enrolled in this crossover trial using a driving simulator with an automatic transmission. Five conditions were tested in a counterbalanced order. Steering reaction time and accuracy (number of errors on a dynamic steering task at 2 difficulty levels) were measured. Participants were allowed to steer with the immobilized extremity. Results: No significant differences in reaction time were observed between any conditions. Both immobilized conditions and difficulty level of the steering task led to diminished accuracy compared with controls, resulting in significantly more errors. The use of a spinner knob significantly improved the accura...
Stroke is a major cause leading to motor disability. Impaired motor function is one of the most serious causes of disabling sequelae of strokes, with over 50% of stroke patients experiencing a residual motor deficit. Researchers have shown an increased interest in proprioception deficits of the paretic side in hemiplegic patients. We examined the relationship between ankle proprioception and driving performance during simulator driving in post-stroke drivers. Four post-stroke drivers participated in this study. We developed an assessment environment using a driving simulator to evaluate driving performancce of stroke patients. The driving scenario consists of 3.5 km urban traffic conditions (3 minutes), 10 km divided 4-lane straight highway (6 minutes), and 7 km 2-lane curved or hilly rural roads (6 minutes). Performance parameters during the simulated drive were automatically generated by the simulator software. The parameters included time-to-collision (TTC), number of road edge excursions, centerline crossings, speed limit violations, collisions, reaction time, and runtime. Ankle proprioception was measured by tracking test that represent the scaling or grading as an essence of coordination of the ankle joint. Double-axis electrogoniometer was used to record the instantaneous angle of the ankle joint dorsiflexion-plantar flexion. We suggest that ankle proprioception may have effects on driving performance of post-stroke driving performance.
Resuming motor vehicle driving following orthopaedic surgery or limb trauma
Swiss Medical Weekly, 2012
Following elective orthopaedic surgery or the treatment of a fracture, patients are temporarily unable to drive. This loss of independence may have serious social and economic consequences for the patient. It is therefore essential to know when it is safe to permit such patients to return to driving. This article, based upon a review of the current literature, proposes recommendations of the time period after which patients may safely return to driving. Practical decisions are made based upon the type of surgical intervention or fracture. Swiss legislation is equally approached so as to better define the decision.
When can I drive? Return to driving following a wrist fracture: A critical review
Hand Therapy, 2015
Introduction The primary aim of this review was to identify literature that examined factors which influence driving performance following a wrist fracture. Given the known scarcity of research in this area, secondary aims were to detail current practices including the driving habits of patients following a wrist fracture and health professionals’ opinions on safe return to driving. Methods We performed a search in April 2015 using three electronic databases to obtain relevant literature in the English language. Relevant studies including clinical trials, surveys and case reports were reviewed. Results The search identified 12 relevant studies. Five of these were clinical studies with a crossover design that investigated the driving ability of uninjured individuals with the wrist immobilised in a cast. The remaining were survey-based studies. The clinical trials showed that the presence of a wrist cast reduced driving performance in uninjured individuals. No studies investigated driving performance in individuals with a wrist fracture. The surveys showed that this patient group returns to driving despite perceived safety risks. Inconsistency in expert opinions on whether individuals with a wrist fracture are safe to drive was highlighted. Conclusions There is evidence to suggest that driving performance is reduced in uninjured individuals when wearing a cast immobilising the wrist; however, the influence of wrist fracture is unknown. This, along with safety implications resulting from current driving behaviours and inconsistent information provided to patients regarding return to driving, highlights the need for further studies to ascertain which factors influence driving performance following wrist fracture.