[Psychotropic drugs and automobile driving ability of elderly patients]

Many elderly patients are prescribed psychotropic medication, many of them are car drivers. Driving ability may be impaired by the underlying psychiatric disease, the medication or the combination of both. Psychoactive medications do not all influence driving ability to the same extent. Cyclic antidepressants impair driving performance to a higher degree than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) or MAO inhibitors. In cases of severe psychiatric diseases like major depression an appropriate psychoactive medication may improve driving performance. The influence of psychoactive drugs on driving ability is not always taken into account. There are no data available that allow a reliable assessment of these drugs in elderly patients. To meet the challenge of this problem, patients and doctors have to be aware of this problem; studies about the impact of psychoactive drugs on driving ability are necessary.