User-friendliness of a Portable Driving Simulator to Retrain Impaired Driving Skills in Stroke Survivors and in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis
University of Kansas Medical Center
Summary
The use of simulators to retrain driving skills of patients with stroke, Parkinson's disease (PD), or multiple sclerosis (MS) is very limited because of cost, space required, and incidence of simulator sickness in high fidelity simulators. The Principal investigator recently developed a low cost low fidelity portable driving simulator (PDS). In this pilot study, the study team will (1) determine the ease of use and occurrence of simulator sickness while operating the low fidelity PDS in a clinic setting and (2) the efficacy of the low fidelity PDS to reproduce the benefits from retraining impaired driving skills of stroke survivors in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants: 30 participants, separated according to neurological condition including stroke, PD, or MS, will be randomly allocated to either the PDS or fixed-base high-fidelity simulator training. Each participant will undergo a pre-training evaluation, five hours of designated training and a post-training assessment, similar to the pre-training evaluation. Data will be analyzed according to study aims. The investigators hypothesize that the simple set up of the PDS will make it easier to use and better decrease the incidence of simulator sickness that typically leads to stopping therapy than the high-fidelity simulator. The investigators hypothesize that improvements in lane maintenance, adherence to speed limits, reaction to traffic lights, and overall reaction time after training using the PDS will not be significantly different from improvements observed after training using the high-fidelity driving simulator.
Description
Aims: The aims of the proposed study are to determine (1) the ease of use and development of simulator sickness while operating the low fidelity Portable Driving Simulator (PDS) in a clinic setting and (2) the efficacy of the low fidelity PDS to reproduce the benefits from retraining impaired driving skills of stroke survivors, persons with Parkinson's Disease (PD) or multiple sclerosis (MS) in a high-fidelity fixed-base simulator. Hypotheses: For the first study aim 1, the investigators hypothesize that the simple set up of the PDS will make it easier to use and better mitigate incidence of…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 25–75 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of a first ever stroke, PD, or MS * Valid driver's licenses, ≥ 3 years driving experience, * Mini-mental State Examination score ≥24, and * Binocular acuity of at least 20/60 in compliance with state of Kansas driving laws Exclusion Criteria: \- Diagnosis of traumatic brain injury or any other neurological condition apart from stroke, PD, and MS.
Interventions
- DeviceLow-Fidelity PDS
The principal investigator recently developed a low cost ($10,000) low fidelity portable driving simulator (PDS) in the University of Kansas Laboratory for Advanced Rehabilitation Research in Simulation (LARRS) that measures 25.5" Wide, 32.5" High, and 25" Deep and requires only approximately 4 square feet of space. This intervention uses the PDS to retrain study participants and improve their driving related skills.
- DeviceHigh Fidelity Fixed-Base Simulator
This intervention uses the large high-fidelity fixed-base driving simulator to retrain study participants and improve their driving related skills.
Location
- Abiodun AkinwuntanKansas City, Kansas