Affiliations: [a] Département des sciences de l’activité physique, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| [b] Groupe de recherche sur les affections neuro-musculo-squelettiques, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, Canada
| [c]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, Cambridge, MA, USA
| [d] Faculté de Médecine, Département de Kinésiologie, Université Laval, QC, Canada
| [e] Groupe de recherche en analyse du mouvement et ergonomie, Université Laval, QC, Canada
| [f]
CHU de Québec– Université Laval, Centre d’excellence sur le vieillissement de Québec, Canada
| [g]
Centre de recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Montréal, Canada
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. Philippe Fait, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 4458 Albert-Tessier, QC, Canada. Tel.: +1 819 376 5011, /Ext. 3768; Fax: +1 819 376 5092; E-mail: Philippe.Fait@uqtr.ca.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Due to the heterogeneity of the lesion following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the complexity of the driving task, driving assessment and rehabilitation in TBI individuals is challenging. Conventional driving assessment (on-road and in-clinic evaluations) has failed demonstrating effectiveness to assess fitness to drive in TBI individuals. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine if driving simulators represent an interesting opportunity in assessing and rehabilitating driving skills in TBI individuals. METHODS: We searched PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane library databases between 27-02-2014 and 08-04-2014 for articles published since 2000 with the contents of simulator driving assessment and rehabilitation. RESULTS: Out of 488, eight articles with the subject of simulator driving assessment and two with the subject of simulator driving rehabilitation in individuals with TBI were reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: Driving simulators represent a promising avenue for the assessment and rehabilitation of driving skills in TBI individuals as it allows control of stimuli in a safe, challenging and ecologically valid environment and offer the opportunity to measure and record driving performance. Additional studies, however, are needed to document strengths and limitations of this method.
