Elsevier

Sleep Medicine Reviews

Volume 7, Issue 4, August 2003, Pages 311-320
Sleep Medicine Reviews

Clinical Review
Driving simulators in clinical practice

https://doi.org/10.1053/smrv.2001.0233Get rights and content

Abstract

Operating a motor vehicle is a complex psychomotor task that requires sustained vigilance. When sleepy, subjects have difficulty maintaining vigilance. As a result, inattention increases the risk of a motor vehicle collision. There is extensive literature that demonstrates that sleepy patients have poor performance and increased motor vehicle crashes. Determining an individual's risk of crash has not been possible solely on clinical grounds and as a result, a number of driving simulators have been developed/employed to aid in this process. While the data shows a consistent effect of sleepiness on driving and simulated driving performance, the role of these simulators in day to day clinical practice is still evolving.

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      The same disadvantages apply to the control group, and nevertheless both patient groups show rapidly decreasing performance compared to the control group. In contrast to several other driving simulation studies [5,16], the subjects in this study only had to steer, and no other tasks were added. Both steering wheel movements and the maintenance of vehicle position have been shown to be reliable measures of the fatiguing effects of prolonged driving [16].

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    Correspondence should be addressed to: C. F. P. George. Tel.: +1-519-667-6860; Fax: +1-519-667-6687; E-mail:[email protected]

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