Outcome
Outcome 1: Clearly Safe - The Patient Can Drive
No concerns were raised in the assessment.
Action:
Reassess fitness every 6-12 months depending on stability [1]
Assist the patient to notify VicRoads by completing a Medical Report (Austroads).
Discuss transition to not driving for the future.
Document assessment, advice and plan.
Outcome 2: Clearly Unsafe: The Patient Should Not Drive
The patient is clearly unsafe to drive, based on your objective and subjective assessment.
In general, irreversible conditions that cause attentional fluctuations, hallucinations, visuospatial difficulties such as Lewy-body Dementia and behavioural-variant Frontotemporal Dementia indicate the patient is unsafe.
Very poor cognitive screening scores. [2]
Action:
Inform patient of their reporting obligations to VicRoads and complete the VicRoads Medical Report. Consider reporting directly to VicRoads if safety is an immediate concern.
Discuss transition to not driving.
Document assessment, advice and plan.
Outcome 3: Needs More Testing
Some concerns were raised in assessment, the patient is neither clearly safe nor clearly unsafe.
Action:
Inform patient of their reporting obligations to VicRoads and complete the VicRoads Medical Report. Consider reporting directly to VicRoads if safety is an immediate concern.
Either you, the patient or VicRoads can refer for an Occupational Therapy driving assessment. You may also refer to another specialist if unsure and indicate this in the Medical Report.
Discuss transition to not driving.
Document assessment, advice and plan.
1. The Driving and Dementia Toolkit for Health Professionals. 3rd edition ed: Champlain Dementia Network and Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario; 2009.
2. Esser P, Dent S, Jones C, Sheridan BJ, Bradley A, Wade DT, et al. Utility of the MOCA as a cognitive predictor for fitness to drive. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2016;87(5):567-8.