Psychotropic drugs and driving: prevalence and types

Abstract

BackgroundSome psychotropic medications (e.g., benzodiazepines, sedative antidepressants, etc.) may impair cognitive and psychomotor functions and, therefore, endanger traffic safety (Ravera, Br J Clin Pharmacol, 72(3):505–513, 2011). They affect detection, registration, and information processing, problem solving, and decision-making processes, and they also affect emotional and social aspects. The objective of this research was to clarify three closely related issues that are significant for traffic safety: the prevalence of psychotropic drugs on driving, the most frequently used psychotropic drugs to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, or any tranquilizers (whether it is a medical prescription or self-medication), and finally, provide a further understanding of the socio-demographic and psycho-social characteristics of drivers related to the psychotropic drugs consumption in Spain.MethodsA sample of 1,200 Spanish drivers ranging from 18 to 64 years was used, 666 men and 534 women were asked to answer a questionnaire composed by a set of questions structured in different sections. The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and drive frequently.ResultsThe results showed that 15% of the participants were consuming psychotropic drugs to treat depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, insomnia, or tranquilizers; 13.5% were using drugs to treat one of these disorders; while 1.5% used them for several of these disorders. A 2.5% of drivers were using medicines to treat depression, 2.6% to treat anxiety, and 3.7% to treat insomnia. The 8.3% of those drivers who were not using any drugs to treat these three disorders were occasionally using some type of tranquilizers. Benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most used type of medicines among drivers. Benzodiazepines were the most used medicines to treat anxiety, while SSRIs were the most used to treat depression, 56.5% and 43.5%, respectively.ConclusionsMeasures can be developed to reduce traffic accidents caused by the effects of these drugs; however, this will only be possible once the drivers and the use of these drugs are understood. Health care professionals and patients should be properly informed about the potential effects of some psychotropic medications on driving abilities considering individual and group differences.

Alcohol Consumption, Smoking, Job Stress and Road Safety in Professional Drivers

“…According to Seppala et al [3], the association of a growing crash risk linked to the increasing of blood alcohol levels is enough documented, i.e., even at low blood alcohol levels (<0.05 g/dL), an increased crash risk is to be expected [4,5], mostly when there are other risk factors present, such as sleep decreasing or sleep systematic disorders [6,7], fatigue [8][9][10], stress [11][12][13][14], mood disorders [15,16] and/or different types of drugs [17], which tend to increase the risk even more.…”

The use of benzodiazepines by women cared for at a Family Health Unit

“…Women are more susceptible to receiving BZD prescriptions, and the refilling of the prescription is not always obtained from direct contact between the patient and the physician (4)(5)(6)(7)(8) . In this sense, some researchers (7,(9)(10) .…”

“…Recent studies discussing the use of BZD by women have been performed in countries such as France (5) , Norway (9) , USA (6,11) , Canada (7,12) , United Kingdom (13) , Spain (8,14) , and Brazil (1,10,15) . Such studies were conducted considering different health services, but few were focused on primary care (6,14,15) .…”

O uso de benzodiazepínicos em mulheres atendidas pela estratégia de saúde da família em um município do interior paulista

“…No entanto, entre as décadas de 1980 e 1990, não havia consenso sobre o potencial de abuso e/ou dependência produzido pelos BDZs, possivelmente pela dificuldade encontrada pelos primeiros pesquisadores em induzir dependência e tolerância em animais (LINSEN; ZITMAN; BRETELER, 1995;LADER, 1984;PETURSSON;LADER, 1981 (SONNENBERG et al, 2012;VICENS et al, 2011;HERRERA et al, 2002 -LARIBIÈRE et al, 2016;KROLL et al, 2016;MORGAN et al, 2016;ALONSO et al, 2014;RABELO, 2011;FIRMINO et al, 2011;ESCRIVÁ FERRAIRÓ et al, 2000;ASHTON, 1991 Title("atencao basica" OR "atencao primaria" OR "atendimento primario" OR "cuidado$ primario$" OR "primary health care" OR "primary healthcare" OR "primary care" OR "atencion primaria de salud") And Title(benzodiazepin? * OR benzodia?epina* OR benzodiazepinico* OR ansiolítico* OR anxiolytic* OR psychotropic* OR psicotr?pico OR psychopharmac* OR psicof?rmaco) Na figura 4 vemos a distribuição dos trabalhos pelos países de origem e foram selecionados para compor o gráfico somente os países com mais de cinco publicações.…”

“…Gravidez, problemas hormonais, transtornos psiquiátricos mais predominantes no gênero feminino e qualidade de vida das mulheres usuárias foram temas recorrentes. (BÉNARD-LARIBIÈRE et al, 2016;KROLL et al, 2016;MORGAN et al, 2016;ALONSO et al, 2014;RABELO, 2011;FIRMINO et al, 2011).…”