The use of simulators to retrain driving skills of patients with stroke, Parkinson's disease (PD), or multiple sclerosis (MS) is very limited because of cost, space required, and incidence of simulator sickness in high fidelity simulators. The Principal investigator recently developed a low cost low fidelity portable driving simulator (PDS). In this pilot study, the study team will (1) determine the ease of use and occurrence of simulator sickness while operating the low fidelity PDS in a clinic setting and (2) the efficacy of the low fidelity PDS to reproduce the benefits from retraining impaired driving skills of stroke survivors in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants: 30 participants, separated according to neurological condition including stroke, PD, or MS, will be randomly allocated to either the PDS or fixed-base high-fidelity simulator training. Each participant will undergo a pre-training evaluation, five hours of designated training and a post-training assessment, similar to the pre-training evaluation. Data will be analyzed according to study aims. The investigators hypothesize that the simple set up of the PDS will make it easier to use and better decrease the incidence of simulator sickness that typically leads to stopping therapy than the high-fidelity simulator. The investigators hypothesize that improvements in lane maintenance, adherence to speed limits, reaction to traffic lights, and overall reaction time after training using the PDS will not be significantly different from improvements observed after training using the high-fidelity driving simulator.
Parkinson Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke
The use of simulators to retrain driving skills of patients with stroke, Parkinson's disease (PD), or multiple sclerosis (MS) is very limited because of cost, space required, and incidence of simulator sickness in high fidelity simulators. The Principal investigator recently developed a low cost low fidelity portable driving simulator (PDS). In this pilot study, the study team will (1) determine the ease of use and occurrence of simulator sickness while operating the low fidelity PDS in a clinic setting and (2) the efficacy of the low fidelity PDS to reproduce the benefits from retraining impaired driving skills of stroke survivors in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants: 30 participants, separated according to neurological condition including stroke, PD, or MS, will be randomly allocated to either the PDS or fixed-base high-fidelity simulator training. Each participant will undergo a pre-training evaluation, five hours of designated training and a post-training assessment, similar to the pre-training evaluation. Data will be analyzed according to study aims. The investigators hypothesize that the simple set up of the PDS will make it easier to use and better decrease the incidence of simulator sickness that typically leads to stopping therapy than the high-fidelity simulator. The investigators hypothesize that improvements in lane maintenance, adherence to speed limits, reaction to traffic lights, and overall reaction time after training using the PDS will not be significantly different from improvements observed after training using the high-fidelity driving simulator.
User-friendliness of a Portable Driving Simulator
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Abiodun Akinwuntan, Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160-8500
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
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25 Years to 75 Years
ALL
No
University of Kansas Medical Center,
Abiodun Akinwuntan, PhD, MPH MBA, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, University of Kansas School of Health Professions
2025-06-30