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Effects of fexofenadine, diphenhydramine, and alcohol on driving performance. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial in the Iowa driving simulator. 2000

J M Weiler, and J R Bloomfield, and G G Woodworth, and A R Grant, and T A Layton, and T L Brown, and D R McKenzie, and T W Baker, and G S Watson
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242-1081, USA. john-weiler@uiowa.edu

BACKGROUND Sedating antihistamines may impair driving performance as seriously as alcohol. OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of fexofenadine, diphenhydramine, alcohol, and placebo on driving performance. METHODS Randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, four-treatment, four-period crossover trial. METHODS The Iowa Driving Simulator. METHODS 40 licensed drivers with seasonal allergic rhinitis who were 25 to 44 years of age. METHODS One dose of fexofenadine (60 mg), diphenhydramine (50 mg), alcohol (approximately 0.1% blood alcohol concentration), or placebo, given at weekly intervals before participants drove for 1 hour in the Iowa Driving Simulator. METHODS The primary end point was coherence, a continuous measure of participants' ability to match the varying speed of a vehicle that they were following. Secondary end points were drowsiness and other driving measures, including lane keeping and response to a vehicle that unexpectedly blocked the lane ahead. RESULTS Participants had significantly better coherence after taking alcohol or fexofenadine than after taking diphenhydramine. Lane keeping (steering instability and crossing the center line) was impaired after alcohol and diphenhydramine use compared with fexofenadine use. Mean response time to the blocking vehicle was slowest after alcohol use (2.21 seconds) compared with fexofenadine use (1.95 seconds). Self-reported drowsiness did not predict lack of coherence and was weakly associated with minimum following distance, steering instability, and leftlane excursion. CONCLUSIONS Participants had similar performance when treated with fexofenadine or placebo. After alcohol use, participants performed the primary task well but not the secondary tasks; as a result, overall driving performance was poorer. After participants took diphenhydramine, driving performance was poorest, indicating that diphenhydramine had a greater impact on driving than alcohol did. Drowsiness ratings were not a good predictor of impairment, suggesting that drivers cannot use drowsiness to indicate when they should not drive.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D006993 Hypnotics and Sedatives Drugs used to induce drowsiness or sleep or to reduce psychological excitement or anxiety. Hypnotic,Sedative,Sedative and Hypnotic,Sedatives,Hypnotic Effect,Hypnotic Effects,Hypnotics,Sedative Effect,Sedative Effects,Sedatives and Hypnotics,Effect, Hypnotic,Effect, Sedative,Effects, Hypnotic,Effects, Sedative,Hypnotic and Sedative
D007484 Iowa State bounded on the north by Minnesota, on the east by Wisconsin and Illinois, on the south by Missouri, and on the west by Nebraska and South Dakota.
D008297 Male Males
D008390 Markov Chains A stochastic process such that the conditional probability distribution for a state at any future instant, given the present state, is unaffected by any additional knowledge of the past history of the system. Markov Process,Markov Chain,Chain, Markov,Chains, Markov,Markov Processes,Process, Markov,Processes, Markov
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009010 Monte Carlo Method In statistics, a technique for numerically approximating the solution of a mathematical problem by studying the distribution of some random variable, often generated by a computer. The name alludes to the randomness characteristic of the games of chance played at the gambling casinos in Monte Carlo. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, 1993) Method, Monte Carlo
D010919 Placebos Any dummy medication or treatment. Although placebos originally were medicinal preparations having no specific pharmacological activity against a targeted condition, the concept has been extended to include treatments or procedures, especially those administered to control groups in clinical trials in order to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol. Sham Treatment
D004155 Diphenhydramine A histamine H1 antagonist used as an antiemetic, antitussive, for dermatoses and pruritus, for hypersensitivity reactions, as a hypnotic, an antiparkinson, and as an ingredient in common cold preparations. It has some undesired antimuscarinic and sedative effects. Benhydramin,Diphenylhydramin,2-Diphenylmethoxy-N,N-dimethylethylamine,Allerdryl,Benadryl,Benylin,Benzhydramine,Dimedrol,Diphenhydramine Citrate,Diphenhydramine Citrate (1:1),Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride,Diphenylhydramine,Dormin,Citrate, Diphenhydramine,Hydrochloride, Diphenhydramine
D004311 Double-Blind Method A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment. Double-Masked Study,Double-Blind Study,Double-Masked Method,Double Blind Method,Double Blind Study,Double Masked Method,Double Masked Study,Double-Blind Methods,Double-Blind Studies,Double-Masked Methods,Double-Masked Studies,Method, Double-Blind,Method, Double-Masked,Methods, Double-Blind,Methods, Double-Masked,Studies, Double-Blind,Studies, Double-Masked,Study, Double-Blind,Study, Double-Masked
D005260 Female Females

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