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Utility of the MOCA as a cognitive predictor for fitness to drive
  1. Patrick Esser1,
  2. Stephen Dent2,
  3. Clare Jones2,
  4. Bryony Jane Sheridan1,
  5. Andrew Bradley3,
  6. Derick Treharne Wade1,4,
  7. Helen Dawes1,5
  1. 1 Movement Science Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
  2. 2 Regional Driving Assessment Centre, Birmingham, UK
  3. 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
  4. 4 Oxford Centre for Enablement, Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust, Oxford, UK
  5. 5 Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Patrick Esser, Movement Science Group, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Ln Campus, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK; pesser{at}brookes.ac.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2015-310921

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    Background

    Determining fitness to drive is a major concern affecting aging and disabled populations, particularly concerning reduced cognitive functioning, functional limitations and reduced vision.1 ,2 The Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents encourages aging drivers to maintain their license (for independence, mobility and quality of life), emphasising that prematurely removing someone's driving license negatively affects their quality of life—the consequences of which outweigh the chance of being involved in a collision, for both the driver and the remainder of society.3

    The gold standard test in the UK to determine the ability to drive is an on-road driving assessment, and clinicians have the opportunity to refer patients to an independent Mobility Centre (accredited by Driving Mobility) where an assessment will be performed based on on-road driving experience as judged by a professional driving instructor and occupational therapist.4 The assessment is resource expensive and only a limited number of individuals are referred. To date no screening test is clinically implemented in the UK which accurately determines fitness to drive.4

    This study sets out to evaluate the potential of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) as a screening tool, for people with concerns regarding cognitive capacity; to determine pass/fail cuts-offs …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval Oxford Brookes University Research Ethical Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement All data presented in this manuscript is owned and held by the Regional Driving Assessment Centre in Birmingham (UK).