TY - JOUR
T1 - Driving following defibrillator implantation
T2 - a nationwide register-linked survey study
AU - Bjerre, Jenny
AU - Rosenkranz, Simone Hofman
AU - Schou, Morten
AU - Jøns, Christian
AU - Philbert, Berit Thornvig
AU - Larroudé, Charlotte
AU - Nielsen, Jens Cosedis
AU - Johansen, Jens Brock
AU - Riahi, Sam
AU - Melchior, Thomas Maria
AU - Torp-Pedersen, Christian
AU - Hlatky, Mark
AU - Gislason, Gunnar
AU - Ruwald, Anne-Christine
N1 - Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2021. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
PY - 2021/9/14
Y1 - 2021/9/14
N2 - AIMS: Patients are restricted from driving following implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation or shock. We sought to investigate how many patients are aware of, and adhere to, the driving restrictions, and what proportion experience an ICD shock or other cardiac symptoms while driving.METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a nationwide survey of all living Danish residents 18 years or older who received a first-time ICD between 2013 and 2016 (n = 3913) and linked their responses with nationwide registers. Of 2741 respondents (47% primary prevention, 83% male, median age 67 years), 2513 (92%) held a valid driver's license at ICD implantation, 175 (7%) of whom had a license for professional driving. Many drivers were unaware of driving restrictions: primary prevention 58%; secondary prevention 36%; post-appropriate shock 28%; professional drivers 55%. Almost all (94%) resumed non-professional driving after ICD implantation, more than one-third during the restricted period; 35% resumed professional driving. During a median follow-up of 2.3 years, 5 (0.2%) reported receiving an ICD shock while driving, one of which resulted in a traffic accident. The estimated risk of harm was 0.0002% per person-year.CONCLUSION: In this nationwide study, many ICD patients were unaware of driving restrictions, and more than one third resumed driving during a driving restriction period. However, the rate of reported ICD shocks while driving was very low.
AB - AIMS: Patients are restricted from driving following implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation or shock. We sought to investigate how many patients are aware of, and adhere to, the driving restrictions, and what proportion experience an ICD shock or other cardiac symptoms while driving.METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a nationwide survey of all living Danish residents 18 years or older who received a first-time ICD between 2013 and 2016 (n = 3913) and linked their responses with nationwide registers. Of 2741 respondents (47% primary prevention, 83% male, median age 67 years), 2513 (92%) held a valid driver's license at ICD implantation, 175 (7%) of whom had a license for professional driving. Many drivers were unaware of driving restrictions: primary prevention 58%; secondary prevention 36%; post-appropriate shock 28%; professional drivers 55%. Almost all (94%) resumed non-professional driving after ICD implantation, more than one-third during the restricted period; 35% resumed professional driving. During a median follow-up of 2.3 years, 5 (0.2%) reported receiving an ICD shock while driving, one of which resulted in a traffic accident. The estimated risk of harm was 0.0002% per person-year.CONCLUSION: In this nationwide study, many ICD patients were unaware of driving restrictions, and more than one third resumed driving during a driving restriction period. However, the rate of reported ICD shocks while driving was very low.
U2 - 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab253
DO - 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab253
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33954626
SN - 0195-668X
VL - 42
SP - 3529
EP - 3537
JO - European Heart Journal
JF - European Heart Journal
IS - 35
ER -