Psychomotor Effects of Diazepam in Anxious Patients and Healthy Volunteers

Psychomotor effects of diazepam, 5 and 10 mg, were compared to placebo in 30 highly anxious, nonpsychotic outpatients and age and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Diazepam did not reduce anxiety according to psychiatrists' ratings, but 10 mg of diazepam three times a day reduced the scores of the self-rated visual analogue scale for anxiety compared to placebo. Diazepam, 5 mg, was devoid of adverse psychomotor effects, but diazepam, 10 mg, impaired tracking and divided attention task performance in patients and volunteers alike. Plasma, erythrocyte, and saliva diazepam and N-desmethyldiazepam concentrations did not correlate with the impairment of psychomotor skills over time.