Useful Field of View After Traumatic Brain Injury

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors often have sensory and cognitive impairments that may interfere with driving ability. The Useful Field of View (UFOV) is a measure of visual information processing that is a good predictor of vehicle crash risk in older adults. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore the possibility that UFOV is compromised after TBI. DESIGN: UFOV performance of 23 TBI survivors and 18 young adults without neurological impairment were compared. CONCLUSION: TBI survivors had higher UFOV scores than young adults, which indicated a greater functional loss of peripheral vision. The results suggest that the UFOV may be a valuable instrument for assessing driving readiness in TBI survivors.