THE EFFECTS OF CLOBAZAM AND LORAZEPAM ON ASPECTS OF PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE AND CAR HANDLING ABILITY

Laboratory tests of psychomotor performance and "on road" assessments of car handling ability were made following repeated doses of clobazam 10 mg three times daily, lorazepam 1 mg three times daily and matching placebo 1 capsule three times daily. Both active compounds produced an impairment, compared to placebo, in some mental arithmetic and letter cancellation tasks, but these effects were neither widespread nor consistent. Lorazepam produced a significant impairment of car driving tasks and analogue rating scales of subjective alertness. The pronounced sedative activity of the drug was also shown in the verbal reports of side effects and in indices of early morning sedation derived from the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire. Clobazam did not produce either the objective, or the subjective impairment of performance and alertness found with lorazepam. The results taken as a whole show important differences between the 1,4 benzodizaepine, lorazepam, and the 1,5 benzodiazepine, clobazam, in their effects on the integrity of psychomotor performance related to car driving ability.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03065251
• Corporate Authors:

  MacMillan Journals Limited

  4 Little Essex Street
  London WC2R 3LF,   England 
• Authors:
  • HINDMARCH, I
  • GUDGEON, A C
• Publication Date: 1980-8

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 145-150
• Serial:
  • British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Blackwell Scientific Publications Limited
  • ISSN: 0306-5251
  • EISSN: 1365-2125
  • Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2125

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driver performance; Drivers; Motor skills; Perception; Personnel performance; Reaction time; Tranquilizers
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction; Psychomotor performance
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver perception
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00349649
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-032 274
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: May 28 1982 12:00AM