This paper presents the results of a German study complementary to previous studies of the fitness to drive of previous heroin addicts who have had methadone treatment. It considers the following questions: (1) whether methadone patients can be considered to be a homogeneous group, especially with respect to the consumption of additional drugs; (2) what the effects of methadone are on performance areas, other than vehicle handling skills, such as perception of traffic situations, risk taking, risk cognition, complex tasks, and personality traits. 47 subjects in Cologne were studied, of whom 24 were looked after by the city's public health department, ten were a doctor's patients, and 13 were controls not using drugs. Various psychophysical tests were administered, before and after administering polamidone. The data were analysed by univariate and multivariate statistical procedures. Traffic specific and other personality characteristics were assessed, together with psychomotor performance. It was found that methadone-substituted patients in the sample were usually unfit to drive, despite being given a high motivation to succeed.
Samenvatting