Fitness to drive following cerebral pathology: The Rookwood Driving Battery as a tool for predicting on-road driving performance

The use of neuropsychological testing to determine fitness to drive in people with neuropathology is likely to be an increasingly attractive alternative to on-road testing for many candidates for assessment. The Rookwood Driving Battery has been shown to have good predictive value for determining some who are likely to fail an on-road test in early studies. This study replicated earlier research by examining the predictive value and theoretical validity of the battery on a larger sample of 391 participants, as well as extending earlier analysis by examining the effect of older age (over 70 years) and the interaction between age and pathology on battery and on-road performance. The battery demonstrated good positive and negative predictive values for predicting on-road performance. There were significant effects of older age on both the Rookwood Battery performance and the on-road test, with older adults performing significantly poorer on both. There was no interaction between age and pathology on the Rookwood Battery but on-road age interacted with some pathologies to produce significantly poorer performances. Furthermore, correlation and regression analysis indicate that the battery is a powerful instrument that encompasses tests of core neuropsychological functions needed for driving.