Citation

De Gier JJ, Nelemans FA. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1981; 1981: 1009-1023.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The primary goal of this study was to compare a specific task-performance in a laboratory test and real driving performance of ambulant patients using diazepam medication with those of controls. Plasma and saliva samples were taken to investigate a level-response relationship. Measurement of real driving performance was based on the method described by De Gier (1979). The design of the laboratory test was based on a vigilance task (high-attention demanding task) directly followed by a simple eye-hand coordination task (low-attention demanding task). Twenty two males participated in the study. Diazepam was given orally on prescription, mostly on a maintenance dose of three times a day 5 mg. Diazepam was found to affect real driving performance and the low-attention-demanding task performance. The results indicated that there is no relationship between plasma or saliva levels of diazepam and/or its major metabolite n-desmethyldiazepam and real driving performance and/or laboratory task performance. (Author/TRRL)