Depression is characterized by mental, emotional and executive dysfunction. Among its symptoms, sleep disturbance and anxiety are very common. The effects of depression and its treatment may have an impact on driving behaviour. In order to evaluate driving performance in depression, 13 patients and 18 healthy controls completed questionnaires and scales and were tested in a driving simulator. Driving simulator data included lateral position (LP), speed and distance from the preceding vehicle. History of collisions was associated with depression, body mass index (BMI) and next-day consequences of sleep disturbance. Aggressive driving was associated with fatigue and sleep disturbances. Concerning driving simulator data, a reduced ability to maintain constant vehicle velocity was positively correlated to BMI and insomnia. An LP towards the middle of the road was associated with anxiety. On the other hand, an LP towards the shoulder was associated with depression and next-day consequences of sleep disturbance, while a positive correlation was found between distance from the preceding vehicle and use of drugs with potential hypnotic effects; both these findings show that patients suffering from depression seem to realize the effects of certain symptoms on their driving ability and thus drive in a more defensive way than controls.

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Road traffic collisions are a major issue for public health. Depression is characterized by mental, emotional and executive dysfunction, which may have an impact on driving behaviour. Patients with depression (N = 39) and healthy controls (N = 30) were asked to complete questionnaires and to drive on a driving simulator in different scenarios. Driving simulator data included speed, safety distance from the preceding vehicle and lateral position. Demographic and medical information, insomnia (Athens Insomnia Scale, AIS), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale, ESS), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale, FSS), symptoms of sleep apnoea (StopBang Questionnaire) and driving (Driver Stress Inventory, DSI and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, DBQ) were assessed. Gender and age influenced almost all variables. The group of patients with depression did not differ from controls regarding driving behaviour as assessed through questionnaires; on the driving simulator, patients kept a longer safety distance. Subjective fatigue was positively associated with aggression, dislike of driving, hazard monitoring and violations as assessed by questionnaires. ESS and AIS scores were positively associated with keeping a longer safety distance and with Lateral Position Standard Deviation (LPSD), denoting lower ability to keep a stable position. It seems that, although certain symptoms of depression (insomnia, fatigue and somnolence) may affect driving performance, patients drive more carefully eliminating, thus, their impact.