Driving Performance in Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis Using a Driving Simulator

This prospective observational study investigates whether driving performance measured in a standardized driving simulator differs between people with Parkinson's disease, people with multiple sclerosis, and healthy drivers. Participants will complete a standardized simulated driving assessment designed to evaluate abilities relevant to safe driving, including lane keeping, speed control, vehicle following, responses to hazards, lane changes, navigation, and compliance with traffic rules. Driving simulator measures will also be examined in relation to clinical characteristics and results from previously performed cognitive, motor, and psychodiagnostic assessments in the patient groups. The main research question is whether a driving simulator can detect measurable patterns of driving performance associated with Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis when compared with healthy drivers. The study hypothesis is that participants with these neurological conditions will show differences in selected driving performance measures and that some of these differences will be associated with the clinical severity and functional manifestations of their disease. The study will also explore whether additional information from eye tracking, video-based measurements, and physiological signals can improve the characterization of driving performance. The results are intended to support the development of objective methods for studying driving-related functions in neurological disease. Simulator results will be used for research purposes and will not by themselves determine an individual's medical fitness to drive.