Investigating Simulated Driving Errors in Amnestic Single- and Multiple-Domain Mild Cognitive Impairment

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Hird, Megan A.^{a; b} | Vesely, Kristin A.^{a; b} | Fischer, Corinne E.^{a; c} | Graham, Simon J.^{d; e} | Naglie, Gary^{f; g; h} | Schweizer, Tom A.^{a; i; j; *}

Affiliations: [a] Neuroscience Research Program, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada | [b] Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada | [c] Department of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada | [d] Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada | [e] Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada | [f] Department of Medicine and Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Science, Toronto, ON, Canada | [g] Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada | [h] Department of Research, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada | [i] Department of Surgery, Neurosurgery Division, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada | [j] Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Dr. Tom Schweizer, Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada. Tel.: +1 416 864 6060; Extn: 77342; Fax: +1 416 864 5857; E-mail: SchweizerT@smh.ca.

Abstract: The areas of driving impairment characteristic of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remain unclear. This study compared the simulated driving performance of 24 individuals with MCI, including amnestic single-domain (sd-MCI, n = 11) and amnestic multiple-domain MCI (md-MCI, n = 13), and 20 age-matched controls. Individuals with MCI committed over twice as many driving errors (20.0 versus 9.9), demonstrated difficulty with lane maintenance, and committed more errors during left turns with traffic compared to healthy controls. Specifically, individuals with md-MCI demonstrated greater driving difficulty compared to healthy controls, relative to those with sd-MCI. Differentiating between different subtypes of MCI may be important when evaluating driving safety.

Keywords: Automobile driving, cognition, computer simulation patient outcome assessment, mild cognitive impairment

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-160995

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 447-452, 2017