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First of all I would like to thank Professor Anna Mazzucchi for having organized this conference and to have addressed the particularly delicate issues that concern us as family members of patients with traumatic brain injury. Listening to the presentations given here over the 2 days, I have come to the con-- clusion that we all face the same problems-you, the rehabilitation therapists, and we, the family members. Namely, after the initial difficulty of coping with coma, we have to contend with the family member's desire to return to driving.
This does not mean that permission to drive should be refused. In a national survey conducted by our Association, 150 survivors and their families were interviewed. The sample population of survivors con-- sisted of 90% men and 10% women (Fig. 1).
The following questions were asked:
- Did you drive before the injury?
- Did you return to driving after the injury?
- Do you currently drive?
- Did you have to notify authorities and apply for permission to return to driving? (Figs. 2A, B).
It was found that 98% of the survivors did not have to apply for permission to return to driving as they still held a valid driving license, while 2%, who were paraplegics, did have to because they obviously also had to make adjustments for operating a motor vehicle.
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