International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

Vehicle Driving after Stroke: Who Does it Better? A Descriptive Study in a Group of Patients Treated at the Clinical Hospital at the University of Chile

Teresita Risopatrón Riesco, Alberto Vargas C, Paulina Tejada U and Lorena Cerda A

Introduction: Vehicular driving is a complex and highly valued process and one of the activities that are most affected post-stroke, but little has been studied about our national epidemiological situation that links them.
Objective: To create an epidemiological profile and estimate the prevalence of vehicular driving in a sample of patients with stroke who were drivers previously.
Method: This is a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study that enrolled adults in productive age at HCUCH, with a discharge diagnosis of stroke; during the first half of 2014. Their clinical records were analyzed and a telephone interview was applied a year after the event.
Results: A sample of 24 patients was obtained. Sixty-six percent (n=16) returned to driving in an average time of 2.5 months after discharge. They had a shorter hospital length of stay (16 ± 24 days; p=0.0062), a better score on the mRS (p=0.0008) and less cognitive impairment (19%; p=0.016) than those who stopped driving.
Conclusion: The sample did not allow for the creation of a specific clinical epidemiologic profile of patients with stroke who returned to driving that was differentiated from the profile of ones who had stopped driving, but we could observe a percentage of returning to driving similar to what has been described in international literature, especially between those who had more functionality, shorter hospital stays and less cognitive lesions, all characteristics of a better functional prognosis in CVD.