Self reported (il)licit drug use in Belgian drivers

Introduction: There are relatively few data on the prevalence of driving under the influence of drugs in the general population. Aim: To determine the number of drivers who took drugs and medicines by using questionnaires, and comparing to the results of toxicological analysis. Method : 2957 respondents driving a personal car or van completed a questionnaire during roadside surveys to report their use of drugs and medicines during the last two weeks and indicate the time of last intake. The drug classes were combined to benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, antidepressants, codeine, alcohol, cannabis,... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Van der Linden, Gertrude
Silverans, Peter
Isalberti, Cristina
Legrand, Sara-Ann
Verstraete, Alain
Dokumenttyp: conference
Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
Verlag/Hrsg.: GTFCh
Schlagwörter: Medicine and Health Sciences / road side survey / (il)licit drugs / alcohol / questionnaire / UPLC-MS/MS
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26917132
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1165581

Introduction: There are relatively few data on the prevalence of driving under the influence of drugs in the general population. Aim: To determine the number of drivers who took drugs and medicines by using questionnaires, and comparing to the results of toxicological analysis. Method : 2957 respondents driving a personal car or van completed a questionnaire during roadside surveys to report their use of drugs and medicines during the last two weeks and indicate the time of last intake. The drug classes were combined to benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, antidepressants, codeine, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin and amphetamines. Drugs were analysed in oral fluid by UPLC-MS/MS. Frequencies in the time categories were calculated and compared with toxicological results. Results : Drug class Self-report/ toxicology Use <1h (n)/ positive toxicology (n) <4h <12h <24h >24h Unknown Alcohol 1614/196 138/95 180/56 182/15 370/9 713/14 31/7 Antidepressants 110/41 6/3 14/5 50/19 24/8 8/0 8/6 Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs 98/40 4/2 10/9 33/14 30/9 12/4 9/2 Cannabis 79/32 5/4 3/1 10/8 7/3 46/14 8/2 Codeine 60/6 4/2 7/3 9/0 6/0 25/0 9/1 Cocaine 7/5 2/2 0 0 0 4/2 1/1 Amphetamines 5/2 0 0 0 0 3/1 2/1 Heroin 2/1 1/1 0 0 0 1/0 0 Conclusions : Alcohol, antidepressants, cannabis, benzodiazepines and codeine were most commonly used. Most drugs were last used >4h or more before driving. Self-report yielded more positives than toxicological analysis. The percentages of positives were higher among the subjects who reported more recent drug consumption. Disclaimer: This abstract has been produced under the project “Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines” (DRUID) financed by the European Community within the framework of the EU 6th Framework Program. This abstract reflects only the author's view. The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.