Mirtazapine, A Sedating Antidepressant, and Improved Driving Safety in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

This article reports on a study of the effects of mirtazapine, a sedating antidepressant, on driving safety in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients as well as to observe the effect of mirtazapine on daytime alertness. The study included 28 patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for MDD and who completed the study in a university teaching hospital. Half of these patients took mirtazapine 30 mg at bedtime for 30 days. Mirtazapine has been shown to improve sleep efficiency and an improvement in daytime alertness on this medication has been reported. A computerized driving simulator test (DST) and the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) were conducted at baseline and on days 2, 9, 16, and 30 after commencement of antidepressant use. Fourteen untreated depressed patients performed a DST and MWT at baseline and on days 2 and 9 to evaluate the possibility of a learning effect. The data showed significant linear effects of the treatment on road position at All Trials and on the morning sessions at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. and on the number of crashes at All Trials and the 4:00 p.m. session for the group on active treatment. The number of crashes significantly decreased on day 30. Road position is associated with an individual's ability to adjust to lane position while driving. After taking mirtazapine, the value of road position in the treatment group was closer to the ideal values, indicating that driving safety had increased. The untreated patients showed no improvement in performance in any of the measures, suggesting that the results are not due to a learning effect. CONCLUSION: A sedating antidepressant can increase driving safety in MDD patients.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01606689
• Authors:
  • Shen, Jianhua
  • Moller, Henry J
  • Wang, Xuehua
  • Chung, Sharon A
  • Shapiro, Gilla K
  • Li, Xiuying
  • Shapiro, Colin M
• Publication Date: 2009-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 370-377
• Serial:
  • Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Physicians Postgraduate Press, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0160-6689
  • Serial URL: http://www.psychiatrist.com/default2.asp

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alertness; Antidepressants; Automobile drivers; Automobile driving; Depression (Mental condition); Driving simulators; Driving tests; Drug effects; Highway safety; Periods of the day; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Risk reduction
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01131318
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 29 2009 7:43AM