Distraction Increases Driving Errors in People With and Those Without Parkinson Disease

During an on-road driving test, patients with Parkinson disease performed worse than controls, but adding a distraction caused a similar degree of worsened performance in both groups.

Researchers investigated the effect of mental distraction on driving ability in drivers with Parkinson disease (PD) and in normal drivers (controls).

Participants were 71 drivers with mild-to-moderate PD and 147 elderly drivers with no neurologic disease. Baseline measures included tests of physical functions (balance, sleepiness, timed motor tasks, Activities of Daily Living functioning, and overall level of disability), visual functions (visual acuity to near and far, contrast sensitivity), affective state (Geriatric Depression Scale score) and cognitive function (MMSE score, visual attention, spatial perception, visual construction, visual and verbal memory, set shifting, verbal fluency, and Useful Field of View score).

The 45-minute drivi…

Reviewing Author

Germaine L. Odenheimer, MD

Distraction Increases Driving Errors in People With and Those Without Parkinson Disease

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Reviewing Author