['Methadone substitution therapy and driving'. Results of an experimental study]

The aim of our experimental study was to gain informations and data on the driving ability of patients undergoing a methadone substitution programme as well as to explore the influence of an HIV infection. 28 patients, five of them HIV-positive, were compared to a control group equal in age, sex and education. For the traffic relevant tests the methadone patients showed significantly reduced performance. Six of the methadone patients passed the tests in a way regarded to have sufficient driving skills. We were unable to prove an influence of HIV infection on driving skills when lacking relevant somatic and neuropsychiatric symptoms. There was no significant correlation between the test results and patients age or dose of medication. We conclude that in general methadone substitution does not implicate driving inability although the majority of our patients showed some reduction of their psychomotoric skills.