Practice parameter: Risk of driving and Alzheimer’s disease

To the Editor: We read with interest the recent practice parameter regarding risk of driving and AD by Dubinsky et al. that was based on a review of epidemiologic studies and driving performance studies assessing crash risk among drivers with AD.1 Two recommendations were made: 1) patients and their families should be told that patients with AD whose Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) is 1 should not drive because of a substantially increased risk of crashing; and 2) patients and their families should be told that patients with possible AD and a CDR of 0.5 pose a significant traffic problem compared to other elder drivers. In this latter case, clinicians are advised to refer patients for an evaluation of driving performance by a qualified examiner and to assess dementia severity and appropriateness of continued driving every 6 months. With respect to who is at risk for application of the practice parameter, we studied the prevalence …