Efficacy of a Driving Program on Safe Community Mobility for Combat Veterans » Mobility, Activity, & Participation (MAP) Lab » College of Public Health and Health Professions

Driving is a portal into general life functioning, and impaired driving skill can pose a serious threat to the combat veterans (CV), passengers and others. Motor vehicle crashes (MVC) among post deployed CV are one of the top four causes of injury and disability, hospitalization, and outpatient visits across the military, and are a leading cause of death among Army service members. The risk of motor vehicle (MV) death is significantly increased in years immediately following return from the battlefield. In sum, the effects of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)/ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other blast related injuries, combined with the “battlefield” mindset and lack of community reintegration programs place CV at risk for MVC and fatalities. In this efficacy study we used simulated driving evaluation to measure driving performance of CVs. The overarching objective of this proposal was to discern, after clinical and simulated driving performance testing, if an Occupational Therapy Driving Intervention (OT-DI) improved veterans’ driving performance (less errors when assessed on simulator) over the short term (immediately following intervention) and intermediate term (3 months).