Objective: To review existing pathway for driving assessment in older Parkinson’s patients in Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, UK.

Background: Parkinson’s leads to motor, cognitive and visual impairment which can affect fitness to drive. The UK law requires patients to contact Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) once the diagnosis is made. Based on submitted information, DVLA advises the Parkinson’s specialist team for further clinical assessment on a structured proforma(1)(2) .However the patient’s self-assessment is not shared with the clinicians

Method: Patients presenting to Parkinson’s clinic from year 2021 to 2023 who had undergone driving assessments by DVLA were reviewed. Data was collected from Electronic Patient Record.

Results: There were 40 patients (32male), of average age 80 years.31/40(78%) continued to drive after DVLA assessments and 9/40(22%) voluntarily stopped driving 2 years after assessment. Table 1 shows a comparison of some of patient characteristics based on DVLA assessment criteria.No car accidents were formally reported by the patients and the clinicians were not  updated about the outcomes of DVLA assessments.

Conclusion: Impairment of driving is eventually noted in all patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Internationally, there is lack of specific consensus to guide older patients with Parkinson’s on fitness to drive. In the UK, assessment for driving is carried out by DVLA and Parkinson’s UK have developed information leaflets to guide patients about this . Patient’s self-assessment and DVLA outcomes should be shared with the Parkinson’s specialist to establish fitness to drive and to decide timings of next review. Further research into driving assessments in older patients with Parkinson’s would be helpful to develop a guideline to reduce harm from accidents whilst maintaining the individual’s independence.

Table 1

References: 1-Clin Geriatr Med. 2020 February ; 36(1): 141–148. doi:10.1016/j.cger.2019.09.007.
2-Driving and Parkinson’s -Parkinson’s UK.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/driving-assessment-in-older-patients-with-parkinsons-in-united-kingdom/