scholarly journals Assessment of cognitive screening tests as predictors of driving cessation: A prospective cohort study of a median 4-year follow-up

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256527
Author(s):  
Ioannis Kokkinakis ◽  
Paul Vaucher ◽  
Isabel Cardoso ◽  
Bernard Favrat

Background Assessing fitness to drive and predicting driving cessation remains a challenge for primary care physicians using standard screening procedures. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the properties of neuropsychological screening tests, including the Trail Making Test (TMT), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Useful Field of View (UFOV), and Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, in predicting driving cessation for health reasons in drivers older than 70 years of age. Design and methods This prospective cohort study, with a median follow-up of 4 years for drivers of 70 years old or older with an active driving license in Switzerland, included 441 participants from a driving refresher course dedicated to volunteer senior drivers. Cases were drivers reported in the national driving registry who lost their license following a health-related accident, who were reported as unfit to drive by their physician or voluntarily ceased driving for health reasons. Survival analysis was used to measure the hazard ratio of driving cessation by adjusting for age and sex and to evaluate the predictive value of combining 3 or more positive tests in predicting driving cessation during a 4-year follow-up. Results A total of 1738 person-years were followed-up in the cohort, with 19 (4.3%) having ceased driving for health reasons. We found that participants with a TMT-A < 54 sec and TMT-B < 150 sec at baseline had a significantly lower cumulative hazard of driving cessation in 4 years than those with slower performance (adjusted HR 3, 95% CI: 1.16–7.78, p = 0.023). Participants who performed a CDT ≥ 5 had a significantly lower cumulative hazard of driving cessation (adjusted HR 2.89, 95% CI: 1.01–7.71, p = 0.033). Similarly, an MoCA score ≥ 26, TUG test <12 sec or a UFOV of low risk showed a lower but not significant cumulative risk at a median follow-up of 4 years. When using tests as a battery, those with three or more positive tests out of five were 3.46 times more likely to cease driving (95% CI: 1.31–9.13, p = 0.012). Conclusions The CDT and the TMT may predict driving cessation in a statistically significant way, with a better performance than the UFOV and MoCA tests during a median 4-year follow-up. Combining tests may increase the predictability of driving cessation. Although our results are consistent with current evidence, they should be interpreted with precaution; more than 95% of the participants above the set threshold were able to continue driving for 4 years without any serious incident.

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 561.2-562
Author(s):  
X. Liu ◽  
Z. Sun ◽  
W. Guo ◽  
F. Wang ◽  
L. Song ◽  
...  

Background:Experts emphasize early diagnosis and treatment in RA, but the widely used diagnostic criterias fail to meet the accurate judgment of early rheumatoid arthritis. In 2012, Professor Zhanguo Li took the lead in establishing ERA “Chinese standard”, and its sensitivity and accuracy have been recognized by peers. However, the optimal first-line treatment of patients (pts) with undifferentiated arthritis (UA), early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are yet to be established.Objectives:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Iguratimod-based (IGU-based) Strategy in the above three types of pts, and to explore the characteristics of the effects of IGU monotherapy and combined treatment.Methods:This prospective cohort study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01548001) was conducted in China. In this phase 4 study pts with RA (ACR 1987 criteria[1]), ERA (not match ACR 1987 criteria[1] but match ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria[2] or 2014 ERA criteria[3]), UA (not match classification criteria for ERA and RA but imaging suggests synovitis) were recruited. We applied different treatments according to the patient’s disease activity at baseline, including IGU monotherapy and combination therapies with methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, and prednisone. Specifically, pts with LDA and fewer poor prognostic factors were entered the IGU monotherapy group (25 mg bid), and pts with high disease activity were assigned to combination groups. A Chi-square test was applied for comparison. The primary outcomes were the proportion of pts in remission (REM)or low disease activity (LDA) that is DAS28-ESR<2.6 or 3.2 at 24 weeks, as well as the proportion of pts, achieved ACR20, Boolean remission, and good or moderate EULAR response (G+M).Results:A total of 313 pts (26 pts with UA, 59 pts with ERA, and 228 pts with RA) were included in this study. Of these, 227/313 (72.5%) pts completed the 24-week follow-up. The results showed that 115/227 (50.7%), 174/227 (76.7%), 77/227 (33.9%), 179/227 (78.9%) pts achieved DAS28-ESR defined REM and LDA, ACR20, Boolean remission, G+M response, respectively. All parameters continued to decrease in all pts after treatment (Fig 1).Compared with baseline, the three highest decline indexes of disease activity at week 24 were SW28, CDAI, and T28, with an average decline rate of 73.8%, 61.4%, 58.7%, respectively. Results were similar in three cohorts.We performed a stratified analysis of which IGU treatment should be used in different cohorts. The study found that the proportion of pts with UA and ERA who used IGU monotherapy were significantly higher than those in the RA cohort. While the proportion of triple and quadruple combined use of IGU in RA pts was significantly higher than that of ERA and UA at baseline and whole-course (Fig 2).A total of 81/313 (25.8%) pts in this study had adverse events (AE) with no serious adverse events. The main adverse events were infection(25/313, 7.99%), gastrointestinal disorders(13/313, 4.15%), liver dysfunction(12/313, 3.83%) which were lower than 259/2666 (9.71%) in the previous Japanese phase IV study[4].The most common reasons of lost follow-up were: 1) discontinued after remission 25/86 (29.1%); 2) lost 22/86 (25.6%); 3) drug ineffective 19/86 (22.1%).Conclusion:Both IGU-based monotherapy and combined therapies are tolerant and effective for treating UA, ERA, and RA, while the decline in joint symptoms was most significant. Overall, IGU combination treatments were most used in RA pts, while monotherapy was predominant in ERA and UA pts.References:[1]Levin RW, et al. Scand J Rheumatol 1996, 25(5):277-281.[2]Kay J, et al. Rheumatology 2012, 51(Suppl 6):vi5-9.[3]Zhao J, et al. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2014, 32(5):667-673.[4]Mimori T, et al. Mod Rheumatol 2019, 29(2):314-323.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 524-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Raimo ◽  
Sean LaVine ◽  
Kelly Spielmann ◽  
Meredith Akerman ◽  
Karen A. Friedman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background  Residents and practicing physicians displaying signs of stress is common. It is unclear whether stress during residency persists into professional practice or is associated with future burnout. Objective  We assessed the persistence of stress after residency and its correlation with burnout in professional practice. We hypothesized that stress would linger and be correlated with future burnout. Methods  A prospective cohort study was conducted over 10 years using survey instruments with existing validity evidence. Residents over 3 academic years (2003–2005) were surveyed to measure stress in residency. Ten years later, these residents were sought out for a second survey measuring current stress and burnout in professional practice. Results  From 2003 to 2005, 143 of 155 residents participated in the initial assessment (92% response rate). Of those, 21 were excluded in 2015 due to lack of contact information; follow-up surveys were distributed to 122 participants, and 81 responses were received (66% response rate and 57% of original participants). Emotional distress in residency correlated with emotional distress in professional practice (correlation coefficient = 0.45, P &lt; .0001), emotional exhaustion (correlation coefficient = 0.30, P = .007), and depersonalization (correlation coefficient = 0.25, P = .029). Multivariate linear regression showed that emotional distress in residency was associated with future emotional distress (β estimate = 0.57, P = .005) and depersonalization (β estimate = 2.29, P = .028). Conclusions  We showed emotional distress as a resident persists into individuals' professional practice 10 years later and has an association with burnout in practice.


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