To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - APA: Paroxetine Safer than Mirtazapine for Car Driving Performance URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1D25C6.htm Doctor's Guide May 18, 2000
By Lara Pullen Special to DG News CHICAGO, IL -- May 18, 2000 -- The antidepressant, paroxetine (20 mg/day), has no psychomotor or behavioral toxicity and has no negative impact on brake reaction time in a driving skills test. In contrast, mirtazapine (15-30 mg/day), another antidepressant, significantly was shown to impair driving performance on all measures. At the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Fran Ridout, MD, of the University of Surrey, England, presented the results of a double blind, balanced, four-way crossover study designed to assess the effects of paroxetine and mirtazapine on driving skills. Twelve healthy volunteers received each medication protocol for five days. The brake reaction time (BRT) and self-assessed ratings of sedation (LARS) were administered at 14:00 on day 0 (baseline) and at 10:30 and 14:30 on days two and five.A psychometric test battery was administered at 7:00 on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Paroxetine had no significant effect on BRT or co-administered LARS compared to placebo. Mirtazapine significantly reduced reaction time (CRT) scores compared to placebo. All treatments significantly impaired morning LARS scores relative to placebo. Subjective ratings of sleep quality (LSEQ) were significantly improved by mirtazapine and significantly impaired by paroxetine. Thus, paroxetine seems to be suitable for use in an ambulant population. It is inadvisable, however, to use mirtazapine to treat ambulant depressed patients. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.