2010 BC Guide in Determining Fitness to Drive

For individuals with episodic impairments, re-assessment may be requiredbecause their risk of functional impairment may increase due to:a progression in their medical condition(s)a change in their response to, or compliance with, treatmenta change in stability, and/ora change in the pattern of episodes.The medical condition chapters provide guidelines for setting reassessmentintervals for individuals with each medical condition. Forsome conditions, the recommended interval is provided in the guidelines.In those circumstances where a recommended interval is not provided, orwhere individual circumstances may require a different interval, e.g. whenthe individual has multiple medical conditions, the case manager oradjudicator reviews a variety of information to determine whether theindividual’s level or risk of functional impairment may increase and thetime period over which this increase may take place.Re-assessment intervals of less than 1 year are generally not scheduled,because the majority of medical conditions do not substantially progress insuch a short period of time. Because of the rapid decline in cognitivefunction associated with many conditions, one year intervals are usuallyscheduled for individuals with cognitive impairments. One year intervalsare also scheduled for individuals with episodic impairments where it isunknown if the stability of the condition, the pattern of episodes or theeffectiveness of treatment is likely to change. This is because a period ofone year is usually sufficient to determine whether such a change is likelyto occur in future.70