Verification of spatial recognition ability of stroke patients required to resume automobile driving

[Purpose] To help patients who had a stroke resume automobile driving, we evaluated their ability to recognize three-dimensional space like that experienced in actual driving situations, with a focus on sensing car width. [Participants and Methods] Seven patients who had a stroke and 29 healthy adults participated in the study. Three 50-cm-wide chairs and 2 panels, 3 m apart, were placed 9 m from the chair in which the participant sat. One panel was fixed and the other panel could be moved toward the fixed panel in a horizontal direction. The participants were asked to signal when they believed that the width of the chair was the same as the space between the panels. [Results] In the simulation of driving a real car, the mean error in judging distance was 13.2 ± 10.4 cm for the Healthy group and that of the Stroke group was two times greater than that of the Healthy group. [Conclusion] These findings show that spatial recognition cannot be evaluated using paper-based two-dimensional higher brain function tests. To help patients who had a stroke resume driving requires evaluation of three-dimensional spatial recognition ability under circumstances that simulate actual driving situations.