Prediction and evaluation of driving and visuo-spatial performance in homonymous hemianopia after compensational training

Abstract

Interest in neuropsychological testing in order to evaluate and predict driving performance in patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH) is growing. An earlier study found that visual performance during driving could be predicted by visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance and that HH patients showed low to modest visuo-spatial performance, suggesting the need for specific therapeutic intervention. Seventeen HH patients (without neglect) took part in a saccadic compensation training to reduce visuo-spatial limitation, with special focus on compensation during driving. We compared and interrelated the visuo-spatial performance during driving with that during neuropsychological tests, before and after training. We further investigated whether the effect of the intervention could be predicted. Generally, the analyses corroborated the results of the earlier study, confirming that visual performance during driving was moderately correlated with visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance. After r...