Do healthcare providers assess for risk factors and talk to patients about return to driving after a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)? Findings from the 2020 DocStyles Survey

Background There is a dearth of information and guidance for healthcare providers on how to manage a patient's return to driving following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Methods Using the 2020 DocStyles survey, 958 healthcare providers were surveyed about their diagnosis and management practices related to driving after an mTBI. Results Approximately half (52.0%) of respondents reported routinely (more than 75% of the time) talking with patients with mTBI about how to safely return to driving after their injury. When asked about how many days they recommend their patients with mTBI wait before returning to driving after their injury: 1.0% recommended 1 day or less; 11.7% recommended 2-3 days; 24.5% recommended 4-7 days and 45.9% recommended more than 7 days. Many respondents did not consistently screen patients with mTBI for risk factors that may affect their driving ability or provide them with written instructions on how to safely return to driving (59.7% and 62.6%, respectively). Approximately 16.8% of respondents reported they do not usually make a recommendation regarding how long patients should wait after their injury to return to driving. Conclusions Many healthcare providers in this study reported that they do not consistently screen nor educate patients with mTBI about driving after their injury. In order to develop interventions, future studies are needed to assess factors that influence healthcare providers behaviours on this topic.