Effects of deep brain stimulation on driving in Parkinson’s disease - a prospective controlled study

Abstract About 50% of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) actively drive a car. In this controlled, three-armed study, non-demented active drivers with PD and DBS were recruited to prospectively examine their driving simulator performance before (Baseline) and 6–12 months after brain surgery (Follow-up). Data was compared to that of clinically matched PD patients, eligible for but without undergoing DBS and to age-matched healthy controls. Clinical Baseline characteristics and driving performance of PD patients with (n = 23) and without DBS (n = 29) did not differ significantly but driving safety in PD was worse compared to controls (n = 33). At Follow-up, driving performance was still comparable between both PD groups. Disease duration was associated with poorer driving performance. This first prospective study on driving safety in PD after DBS implantation indicates that DBS does not influence driving negatively, but also does not improve driving safety as hypothesized based on previous studies.