Citation

Burns M, Moskowitz H. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1993; 1993: 585-590.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper reports a Californian acute dose study and two chronic dose studies with terfenadine (Seldane). The subjects were healthy men, aged 21 to 40. The three study treatments were terfenadine, diphenhydramine and a placebo. For each treatment, an identical battery of laboratory psychological tests was administered, including visual search (VS), divided attention (DA), critical tracking (CTT) and vigilance (VIG). The battery thus measured skills that are important to driving. The experiments were: (1) an acute dose study using a crossover design; (2) a chronic dose study using a crossover design; (2) a chronic dose study using a parallel groups design. In each of the experiments, diphenhydramine significantly impaired performance, but terfenadine did not. As significant impairment occurred with a single dose of diphenhydramine, a driver is at increased risk if his use of that drug, even if once only, happens to coincide with a driving period. There was some evidence that the impairment that it causes diminishes with continuing use. The experimental data support the claim that terfenadine is a non-sedating antihistamine; for doses up to 240mg per day, there was no evidence that it reduced performance.