Visual Attention Deficits are Associated with Driving Accidents in Cognitively-Impaired HIV-Infected Individuals

• Published in: Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology 2006-01, Vol.28 (1), p.13-28
• Main Authors: Marcotte, Thomas D., Lazzaretto, Deborah, Cobb Scott, J., Roberts, Erica, Woods, Steven P., Letendre, Scott, the HNRC Group
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents, Aviation - statistics & numerical data; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Female; HIV Infections - complications; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk; Sensitivity and Specificity; Vision Disorders - physiopathology; Visual Fields - physiology
• ISSN: 1380-3395; 1744-411X
• DOI: 10.1080/13803390490918048

Previous research has found HIV-associated neuropsychological (NP) dysfunction to be associated with impaired driving skills. To determine whether specific impairments in visual attention impart an increased accident risk, we assessed 21 HIV seronegative (HIV-) and 42 seropositive (HIV+) participants on NP tests and the Useful Field of View (UFOV), a computerized test of visual attention. HIV+ participants performed significantly worse than the HIV- participants on the UFOV, particularly on the Divided Attention subtest. Poor UFOV performance was associated with higher accident rates in the past year, with a trend for NP impairment to also predict more accidents. The highest number of accidents occurred in the group with a "high risk" UFOV designation and NP impairment; this category correctly classified 93% of HIV+ participants as to who did, and did not, have an accident. Clinicians should attend to visual attention as well as general cognitive status in estimating which patients are at risk for impaired driving.