@article{ref1,
title="Second generation antihistamines exhibit a protective effect on drivers in traffic: A preliminary population-based case-control study",
journal="Traffic injury prevention",
year="2014",
author="Perttula, Antti and Pitkäniemi, Janne and Heinonen, Olli-Pekka and Finkle, William D. and Triche, Timothy and Gergov, Merja and Vuori, Erkki",
volume="15",
number="6",
pages="551-555",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Although there have been experimental studies concerning driving and drugs, studies on the risk of antihistamines are not numerous. This is the first population-based epidemiological study concerning the association of sedating/non-sedating antihistamines and fatal traffic accidents.   METHODS: Car drivers (n = 428) who died in accidents before reaching hospital and controls (n = 688) matched for accident area and driving season were studied for antihistamines in blood. At the time of the fatal road traffic accident, 6 drivers had a detectable amount of sedating antihistamines in blood, while the corresponding number for controls was 4; non-sedating antihistamines in blood were detected in 12 accident cases and 28 controls. The fatal accidents occurred between 1998-2002 and the information on the controls was collected between 2000-2002 in Finland.   RESULTS: Regarding fatal traffic accident causality, the non-sedating antihistamines proved to have a protective effect after adjusting for age and gender (RR = 0.40 0.20 to 0.82 95% CI, p = 0.01). The risk of fatal traffic accident of those driving under the influence of sedating antihistamines was 1.61 (0.38 to 6.77, p = 0.51) times the risk of those without medication.   DISCUSSION: This preliminary study supports the protective effect of second generation antihistamines with respect to fatal traffic accidents. Due to the small sample size the results not conclusive.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1538-9588",
doi="10.1080/15389588.2013.861597",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2013.861597"
}