Driving Simulators for Occupational Therapy Screening, Assessment, and Intervention

Abstract

Simulation technology provides safe, objective, and repeatable performance measures pertaining to operational (e.g., avoiding a collision) or tactical (e.g., lane maintenance) driver behaviors. Many occupational therapy researchers and others are using driving simulators to test a variety of applications across diverse populations. A growing body of literature provides support for associations between simulated driving and actual on-road driving. One limitation of simulator technology is the occurrence of simulator sickness, but management strategies exist to curtail or mitigate its onset. Based on the literature review and a consensus process, five consensus statements are presented to support the use of driving simulation technology among occupational therapy practitioners. The evidence suggests that by using driving simulators occupational therapy practitioners may detect underlying impairments in driving performance, identify driving errors in at-risk drivers; differentiate between driving performance of impaired and healthy controls groups; show driving errors with absolute and relative validity compared to on-road studies; and mitigate the onset of simulator sickness. Much progress has been made among occupational therapy researchers and practitioners in the use of driving simulation technology; however, empirical support is needed to further justify the use of driving simulators in clinical practice settings as a valid, reliable, clinical useful, and cost effective tool for driving assessment and intervention.

Driving simulator sickness: Impact on driving performance, influence of blood alcohol concentration, and effect of repeated simulator exposures

“…Driving simulation has numerous uses, such as training purposes, assessment of possibly unfit drivers and research in the fields of traffic safety and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (DUI) (Classen and Brooks, 2014). Driving simulators enable researchers to assess performance in various driving environments (i.e., city driving, highway driving, or situations or settings with high accident risk) under controlled laboratory conditions.…”

Training driving ability in a traumatic brain-injured individual using a driving simulator: a case report

“…Basic simulator data of speed and vehicle lateral position were used to evaluate driving performance. 20 , 21 Exceeding a speed of 10 km/h above and below the speed limit was considered as a speed regulation error. Lateral positioning error was defined by maintaining lateral vehicle position of >15% of the lane width to the left or the right of the center of the lane (i.e., tires <15 cm from the nearest line).…”

Guiding Framework for Driver Assessment Using Driving Simulators

“…Driving simulators hold key advantages for identifying risks to driving safety among different driver populations and across driving conditions when compared to office-based tools and on-road testing (Allen et al, 2011 ; Classen and Brooks, 2014 ). Common office-based tests of sensory and cognitive function thought to affect driving safety include, for instance: the Useful-Field-of-View test that assesses visual attention (Ball and Owsley, 1993 ), the Rapid Pace Walk test that measures general physical functioning (Marottoli et al, 1994 ), and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment that screens for mild cognitive impairment (Nasreddine et al, 2005 ).…”