Article

PURPOSE: To investigate whether driving performance is impaired in persons with
mild to moderate multiple sclerosis (MS). METHOD: This study included 15 persons
with MS (pwMS) and 17 healthy controls. The MS group exhibited mild to moderate
impairments on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (median, Q1-Q3; 3.5, 2.5-4).
The driving simulation required participants to drive in daily traffic while
attending to a divided attention (DA) task. Computerized measures on the driving
task included number of accidents, tickets, speed maintenance, standard deviation
of lateral position, and time to collision. Response times and accuracy on the DA
task were also computer generated. Additionally, pwMS completed a clinical
evaluation encompassing motor, functional, visual, psychosocial and cognitive
tests. RESULTS: No differences between healthy controls and pwMS were observed on
all measures of the primary driving task. PwMS performed worse than healthy
controls on DA response time (3.10 s, 2.87-3.68 versus 2.15 s, 2.04-2.43; p =
0.001) and accuracy (15 correct answers, 11-18 versus 24 correct answers, 22-25;
p < 0.0001). Depression was significantly associated with time to collision (r =
-0.77; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with mild to moderate MS are able to
prioritize the driving task above the DA task. The relationship between
depression and driving performance in MS merits further investigation.

Langue : ANGLAIS