Methadone maintenance and tracking performance

Abstract

In the present paper the authors review the importance of aspects of tracking skills for driver performance, and consider the implications of methadone maintenance treatment for compensatory, pursuit, and critical tracking performances. In the first experiment, 12 methadone maintained patients and 12 drug free ex heroin addicts were tested on compensatory and pursuit tracking tasks. The results showed no difference between the groups. In the second experiment, 15 methadone maintained patients, and 15 drug free, ex heroin addicts performed a critical tracking task, and again no difference between groups was found. We concluded that, for patients stabilized in methadone maintenance programs, this treatment did not produce any decrement in tracking performance. These findings are consistent with other evidence on the effects of methadone (a).