Hangover, Congeners, Sleep and Occupational Performance
Condition: Sleep; Neurobehavioral Manifestations
MeSH terms: Neurobehavioral Manifestations
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 2

Summary: 
      The objective is to investigate residual effects of heavy drinking, with or without hangover
      symptoms. The primary aim is to test several hypotheses about residual effects of heavy
      drinking. Hypotheses about how heavy drinking affects next-day performance include direct
      physiological effects of alcohol, alcohol withdrawal effects, and non-ethanol effects, such
      as congeners, or family history of alcohol problems. The investigators will test the
      following hypotheses:

        1. relative to placebo, heavy drinking will degrade next-day performance, and this
           relationship will be mediated in full or in part by quality of sleep;

        2. a high congener alcoholic beverage will affect performance to a greater degree than a
           low congener beverage and this relationship will be mediated by severity of hangover
           symptoms.
    

Detailed description: 
      The primary aim of the proposed study is to test several hypotheses about residual effects of
      heavy drinking. Hypotheses about how heavy drinking affects next-day performance include
      direct physiological effects of alcohol (e.g., electrolyte imbalance, low blood sugar, sleep
      disturbance), alcohol withdrawal effects, acetaldehyde toxicity, and non-ethanol effects,
      such as congeners or family history of alcohol (Swift and Davidson, 1998). Using a
      placebo-controlled randomized trial, we will dose participants with placebo or with a high or
      low congener alcoholic beverage (to a level of 0.10 g% BAC) the night before they perform
      exercises on a neurobehavioral evaluation system. We will monitor participants' sleep to
      assess sleep disturbance. We will collect information on hangover symptoms the morning after
      dosing. We will also collect data on participants' family history of drinking problems. We
      will test the following hypotheses:

        1. relative to placebo, heavy drinking will degrade next-day cognitive performance, and
           this relationship will be mediated in full or in part by quality of sleep; and

        2. a high congener alcoholic beverage will affect performance to a greater degree than a
           low congener beverage and this relationship will be mediated by severity of hangover
           symptoms.

      We will explore whether the residual effects of heavy drinking on next-day cognitive
      performance are attenuated among participants positive for a family history of alcohol
      problems, relative to family-history-negative participants.

      A secondary aim is to test the effectiveness of the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), a
      validated measure of fatigue, as a fitness-for-duty test. We will test whether the PVT can
      distinguish dosing status (alcohol or placebo) of participants at the time performance is
      measured the next day and the extent to which PVT measures correlate with performance scores.

      Participants will be young adults ages 21-30 who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate
      college or university or have graduated from a college or university. Alcoholic beverages
      will be bourbon (high-congener) in soda or vodka (low-congener) in soda. Placebo will be
      tonic alone. We will use a mixed within- and between-subjects design, balancing the order of
      placebo and alcohol administration. Performance will be measured using a computer-based
      neurobehavioral evaluation system.
    

Intervention name(s): Ethanol (Bourbon or Vodka)
Intervention type(s): Drug
Intervention MeSH terms: Ethanol
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Alcohol; Alcohol abuse; Alcohol consumption; Unhealthy alcohol use; Residual effects; Sleep Stages; Respiratory Physiology