Driving impairment in patients with movement disorders: examining the Baylor driving questionnaire by objective driving assessment

Background: The development of a screening tool to identify driving impairment in patients with movement disorders is an unmet need. Objective: To validate Baylor Driving Questionnaire for Movement Disorders (BDQMD) by objective driving assessment (ODA). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 142 patients with various movement disorders completed the 10-item BDQMD and of those, 25 completed ODA using the driver performance analysis system (DPAS). Results: The mean total BDQMD score for the whole cohort was 14.7 ± 5.6 (range 10-47). Patients who underwent ODA had a mean BDQMD score of 12.8 ± 2.9. Four had minimum driving skill, 20 had average, and 1 was highly skilled. Total BDQMD negatively correlated with overall DPAS score (r = -0.45, p = 0.025) and the score reflecting the traffic risk analysis (r = -0.41, p = 0.041). Conclusion: BDQMD total score in this pilot study correlated well with the performance in ODA. Additional validation studies are warranted to explore its potential as a screening tool for driving impairment.