Comparison of efficacy of the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-3 and the Rivermead Perceptual Assessment Battery with Performance of Indian drivers on driving simulator for determining off-road perceptual skills: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: Driving simulator (DS) is frequently used in traffic research in order to study various traffic scenarios with related traffic phenomena. This current pilot study assesses off-road driving skills of Indian drivers using driving simulator and perceptual test batteries such as the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-3 (TVPS-3) and the Rivermead Perceptual Assessment Battery (RPAB). Objectives: The objective of this study is to determine the off-road skills of Indian drivers using DS and comparing their performance on visual perceptual test batteries (TVPS-3 and RPAB). Study Design: An observational cross-sectional study design was chosen for the research. Methods: A sample size of 30 participants, based on convenient sampling method, who met the following inclusion criteria were included: participants with driving experience of ≥1 year, age range: 20–60 years, and no obvious visual and/or physical impairment or other such comorbidities. Participants underwent evaluation in two phases. Phase 1 included screening of participants for inclusion criteria and assessment of screened participants on DS. Driving Simulator: Participants were tested on “city driving test” for 10 min. In Phase 2, after completing assessment on driving simulator, participants were randomly assigned to either of the perceptual tests. By perceptual tests, participants' perceptual abilities were assessed either using RPAB or TVPS-3. Results: The RPAB group had 12 males and 3 females, whereas the TVPS-3 group had 11 males and 4 females. The mean age for the RPAB group was 40.33 ± 11.33 and for the TVPS-3 group was 40 ± 11.06. Pearson's correlation to compare the visual perceptual tests and performance on DS was found to be statistically significant (RPAB group: r = 0.80, P = 0.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50–0.92 and TVPS-3 group: r = 0.82,P = 0.00, 95% CI: 0.56–0.93). The performance of Indian drivers on perceptual tests and driving simulator is highly correlated. Conclusion: There is a strong positive correlation between off-road driving skills (DS) with visual perceptual skills (tested on TVPS-3 and RPAB).