Conditions: Shift-Work Sleep Disorder
Keywords: Shift-work SWSD eszopiclone MWT shiftworkers
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 24
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to test the effects of eszopiclone on daytime sleep and overnight wakefulness in shift workers.

Detailed description:
The current study seeks to extend the currently available treatments for SWSD by addressing the putative root cause of the problem-the inability of night-shift workers with or without SWSD- to obtain adequate daytime sleep in the face of the circadian drive for alertness that increases across the biological day. Even healthy, young subjects who are sleep-deprived overnight exhibit daytime sleep marked by frequent awakenings and low sleep efficiency, less slow-wave sleep, and altered sleep architecture, e.g. earlier predominance of REM sleep. Many night-workers routinely report 3-6 hours of habitual sleep duration for daytime sleep. Pharmacological interventions to decrease awakenings and improve total sleep time during daytime sleep could improve subsequent alertness during a night shift. Improving the wakefulness of night-shift workers over the nighttime could result in substantial benefits for the individual workers, improve workplace productivity and safety, and improve public health.

Arms:
arm 1: Treatment with eszopiclone arm 2: Treatment with matching placebo

Interventions: intervention 1: eszopiclone intervention 2: matching placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 3mg eszopiclone prior to daytime sleep for 3 days (at home) and 1 day (in lab) intervention 2: matching placebo prior to daytime sleep for 3 days (at home) and 1 day (in lab)

Protocol document: