Efficacy of an Occupational Therapy Driving Intervention for Returning Combat Veterans

Abstract

Polytrauma, including mild traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, and orthopedic conditions, is common among combat veterans (CVs) from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Medical conditions, coupled with deployment-related training, may affect CVs' fitness to drive and contribute to post-deployment crash and injury risks. However, empirical interventions are lacking. Therefore, the study purpose was to examine the efficacy of an occupational therapy driving intervention (OT-DI) with pre and post testing of CVs. Using a DriveSafety 250 simulator, Occupational Therapy-Driver Rehabilitation Specialists recorded driving errors. Eight CVs (mean age = 39.83, SD = 7.80) received three OT-DI sessions, which incorporated strategies to address driving errors and visual search retraining. We determined baseline driving errors (mean = 31.63, SD = 8.96) were double the number of posttest errors (mean = 15.38, SD = 9.71). At posttesting, a significant (p < 0.05) decrease was noted for total errors and lane maintenance. Despite study constraints, preliminary data support the efficacy of the OT-DI.