Article

Although a person's fitness to drive has gained more attention over
the past few years, investigations have focused mainly on postsurgical (eg, hip
arthroplasty) driving performance. Few data are available on how orthoses affect
the ability to perform an emergency stop. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether common
lumbar and hip orthoses impair driving performance by increasing brake response
time and weakening brake force (BF). DESIGN: Crossover repeated measures design.
SETTING: University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A crossover, repeated-measures design
was used to test 30 healthy volunteers with and without each of the orthoses in
random order. METHODS: A custom-made simulator was created from a car cabin
fitted with measurement equipment to record braking parameters under realistic
spatial constraints. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Reaction time (RT), foot transfer
time (FTT) (these 2 together: brake response time), and maximum BF. RESULTS:
Although spine orthoses lead to statistically significant increases in RT
(Vertebradyn-Strong, P = .002; Horizon 637 LSO, P = .32; and SofTec Dorso, P =
.013), this effect was not observed in hip orthoses, where instead FTT was
prolonged (DynaCox and Hohmann-like orthosis, P < .001). BF was not significantly
altered in any of the orthoses. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that hip and
spine orthoses lead to impaired driving performance. Depending on the type of
immobilization, this effect mostly increases RT or FTT, lengthening total
stopping distances by up to half a meter at 100 km/h. However, in the absence of
an underlying pathological condition in individuals with orthoses, their braking
performance should be sufficient to continue driving.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS