Driving in patients with dementia

Abstract

These pilot data suggest that driving among individuals with incapacitating dementing illness may be an unrecognized, potentially serious problem. A simple 20-item screening questionnaire was administered to 72 referrals to the Dementia Research (outpatient) Clinic of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Thirty percent of the patient sample had at least one accident since the onset of symptoms of dementia. An additional 11% were reported by caregivers to have "caused" accidents.