Highlights
- •Driving is an important daily functional task for many people, but safe driving is often impacted by upper extremity orthopedic injuries.
- •It is likely a compliment to a hand therapist's knowledge to understand the current evidence and guidance on returning to safe driving following an orthopedic injury.
- •Hand therapists can assist preparedness for return to safe driving by helping to maximize functional range of motion and strength in the upper extremity, performing activity analyses of necessary driving tasks, educating on adaptive equipment options and referring to certified driving specialists when needed.
- •Future research is needed on the topic of safe return to driving following an orthopedic upper extremity injury or surgery.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Hand TherapyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Doctor can I drive?: The need for a rational approach to return to driving after musculoskeletal injury.Injury. 2016; 47: 513-515
- Driving performance following a wrist fracture: a pilot study using a driving simulator.Hand Ther. 2020; 25: 26-36
- Resuming motor vehicle driving following orthopaedic surgery or limb trauma.Eur J Med. 2012; 142: w13716
- Defining the upper extremity range of motion for safe automobile driving.Clin Biomech. 2018; 54: 78-85
- Predictive factors for return to driving following volar plate fixation of distal radius fracture.J Wrist Surg. 2020; 9: 298-303
- When can I drive after orthopaedic surgery? A Systematic review.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016; 474: 2557-2570
- Driving after orthopaedic surgery.J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2013; 21: 696-706
- Changes in sterring performance and muscle activity of the upper extremity according to the position of the spinner knob.Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2020; 11: 1-7
The Association for Driver Rehabilitation Services. CDRS vs. DRS. Accessed December 5, 2020 from https://www.aded.net/page/230.
- Driving after upper or lower extremity orthopaedic surgery.Joints. 2018; 6: 232-240
JHT Read for Credit
Quiz: # 906
Record your answers on the Return Answer Form found on the tear-out coupon at the back of this issue or to complete online and use a credit card, go to JHTReadforCredit.com. There is only one best answer for each question.
- # 1.A 2020 study (not this one) using simulated driving found that
- a.post Fx patients usually opted to use the center lane when on 3 lane highways
- b.post Fx patients almost never left the right lane
- c.post Fx patients and normals spent an equal amount of time outside their lanes
- d.post Fx patients spent more time outside their lanes than normals
- a.
- # 2.Currently ___________________________ for determining return to driving status
- a.only federal police are qualified
- b.only New York and California have adopted written standards and criteria
- c.there are no accepted legal standards or clear criteria
- d.most states have adopted rigid OSHA standards
- a.
- # 3.Currently in the US deciding a patient is ready to resume driving rests with the
- a.patient
- b.state police
- c.local police
- d.the treating physician or CHT
- a.
- # 4.The authors advocate that hand therapists
- a.should take responsibility for making the decision
- b.should not take responsibility for making the decision
- c.should establish a single standard or test for return to driving status
- d.consult with their state DMV in establishing standards and criteria
- a.
- # 5.In addition to ROM and strength considerations, car specificity should be incorporated in a patient's rehab program
- a.false
- b.true
- a.
When submitting to the HTCC for re-certification, please batch your JHT RFC certificates in groups of 3 or more to get full credit.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 01, 2021
Accepted:
February 24,
2021
Received in revised form:
February 20,
2021
Received:
January 17,
2021
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
