Driving and TIAs

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Exploring attitudes towards driving following transient ischaemic attacks

• IRAS ID

  219962

• Contact name

  Esther Hobson

• Contact email

  e.hobson@sheffield.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 5 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Following a transient ischaemic attack or TIA (often called a mini-stroke), patients are not able to drive for one month. After this, they can usually resume driving. We have found that when patients come back to see a doctor six weeks after their TIA, many of them are not driving, even though they are eligible whilst others may be driving when they are not eligible.

  We wish to explore the attitudes towards driving of patients who have suffered a TIA, to understand their experiences of driving, what they know about driving after a TIA and what information is available.

  This study will be in two parts:
  1) We will ask patients attending acute TIA clinic to complete a short questionnaire about their medical history, driving and driving confidence.
  2) We will interview patients and their relatives who are returning to TIA clinic 6 weeks after their TIA. We will invite a small number of patients, along with their accompanying friend or relative to take part: up to 12 interviews. We will ask them to tell us about their experiences of driving and what they know about driving and driving licensing. We will also interview doctors and nurses who tell patients about driving.

  The interviews will be recorded and analysed and the results presented locally and at conferences. We hope that the information we gain will be helpful to improve the way patients and their relatives receive education after a TIA.

  Nature of research
  This is an original research study conducted by the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and SITraN clinical research team including a University of Sheffield Clinical Neurology MSc student, under the supervision of the principle and co-investigators.

• REC name

  West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/WM/0107

• Date of REC Opinion

  17 Mar 2017

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion