Mental illness and road safety.
BACKGROUND
Psychiatric disorders, either due to their psychopathology or the drug treatments required, may lead to changes in perception, information processing and integration, and psychomotor activity which may disturb and/or interfere with the ability to drive safely.


METHODS
This study assesses competence to drive in a sample of psychiatric outpatients, with a driver's license, who drove regularly. This ability was assessed with the accredited LNDETER 100 battery, an electronic assessment unit measurement, in different clinical situations.


RESULTS
Only 24 of the 120 patients passed the four tests required to obtain or renew a driver's license, and 80% failed in at least one of the required tests. None of the patients studied had notified the traffic authorities or the examination centers that they had a psychiatric condition that could affect safe driving. No patient stopped driving, although 10% of them admitted that their ability to drive was somewhat deteriorated.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric patients with altered psychomotor performance should be a concern for psychiatrists and general practitioners regarding their competence to drive vehicles. Clinical, ethical and legal aspects of our findings are discussed.
de Las Cuevas Castresana
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Psychiatry Department, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Ofra, s/n San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38071 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. cdelascuevas@gmail.com
Sanz Alvarez
Ej
E
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D055815:Young Adult