The SIMARD MD (Screen for the Identification of Cognitively Impaired Medically At-Risk Drivers, A Modification of the DemTect) is a valid and reliable screening tool for the identification of cognitively impaired medically at-risk drivers. It is called a modification of the DemTect because it uses a subset of the items from that screening tool.

The SIMARD MD was developed and validated against actual driving performance using a driving evaluation scientifically developed to identify cognitively impaired drivers who are unsafe-to-drive.

There are three possible outcomes for the SIMARD MD screen:

A score of:

  • ≤   30:        flagged as unfit to drive
  • 31-70:        indeterminate
  • >   71:        flagged as fit to drive

When a patient is flagged as either fit to drive or unfit to drive it is important you consider whether mitigating factors exist that could have influenced the result. For example, a language barrier could influence a patient to score lower than their true ability. Conversely, a highly intelligent patient could score higher than their true ability. In these cases, the SIMARD MD should not be relied upon for licensing decisions.  Document on the report to OSMV that the SIMARD MD result may not be valid based on your clinical opinion and recommend the patient be referred to DriveABLE.

SIMARD MD Tool

The SIMARD MD Provide a link below rather than in the middle of the text..keep people reading here. (Screen for the Identification of Cognitively Impaired Medically At-Risk Drivers, A Modification of the DemTect) is a valid and reliable screening tool for the identification of cognitively impaired medically at-risk drivers. It is called a modification of the DemTect because it uses a subset of the items from that screening tool.

The SIMARD MD was developed and validated against actual driving performance using a driving evaluation scientifically developed to identify cognitively impaired drivers who are unsafe-to-drive.

There are three possible outcomes for the SIMARD-MD screen:

A score of:

  • ≤ 30:   flagged as unfit to drive
  • 31-70:     indeterminate
  • > 70:        flagged as fit to drive

When a patient is flagged as either fit to drive or unfit to drive it is important you consider if any clinical factors exist that could have influenced the result. For example, a language barrier could influence a patient to score lower than their true ability. Conversely, a highly intelligent patient could score higher than their true ability. In these cases, the SIMARD MD should not be relied upon for licensing decisions.  Document on the report to OSMV that the SIMARD MD result may be unreliable based on your clinical opinion and recommend the patient be referred to DriveABLE.