Medication and fitness to drive

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study is to analyze the consumption patterns of medicaments among motor vehicle drivers who attend ‘Medical Driving Test Centres’ and the relation between habitual consumption of medicaments and fitness to drive. Methods The study was carried out on 8043 drivers who attended 25 Medical Driving Test Centres. Results 24.7% of drivers chronically consume medicaments while 6.8% consume medicaments along with alcohol every day. Of those who chronically consume medicaments with a warning about the medications on driving, 65.8% were considered ‘fit’ to drive, 27.3% ‘fit with restrictions’, 5.1% ‘suspended’ and 0.4% ‘unfit’. Conclusions The results show how frequent the consumption of medicaments along with alcohol is and that the great majority of drivers who take medicaments are considered fit to drive.