Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2006 Feb;13(2):158-65.
doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2005.08.013. Epub 2006 Jan 25.

Cognitive performance following modafinil versus placebo in sleep-deprived emergency physicians: a double-blind randomized crossover study

Michelle Gill  1 , Paul Haerich, Kelli Westcott, Kristen L Godenick, Jennifer A Tucker
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Cognitive performance following modafinil versus placebo in sleep-deprived emergency physicians: a double-blind randomized crossover study

Michelle Gill et al. Acad Emerg Med. 2006 Feb.
Free article

Erratum in

  • Acad Emerg Med. 2006 Apr;13(4):477

Abstract

Objectives: Modafinil has recently been approved for the treatment of shift work sleep disorder, making it potentially available for shift-working emergency physicians. The authors' objectives were to determine whether modafinil improved cognitive performance of emergency physicians following overnight shifts and to record symptoms and subjective evaluations of the effect of modafinil on the participants.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study that followed CONSORT guidelines. Participants were assigned to one of two study groups, with study sessions occurring at least seven weeks apart, and received either modafinil or placebo depending on their random allocation. Testing after night shifts included a coding task and an AX version of the Continuous Performance Task, both of which test cognitive function. Participants also completed visual analog scales for three subjective outcomes, and symptoms were elicited.

Results: Modafinil facilitated performance on long interstimulus-interval AX trials (F [1, 23] = 6.65, p = 0.1) and marginally reduced errors on AY trials in the Continuous Performance Task (F [1, 23] = 3.59, p = 0.07), suggesting facilitation of sustained attention, cognitive control, and working memory. Additionally, modafinil, compared with placebo, facilitated performance on the coding task at the first session. Subjective data from visual analog scales confirmed that modafinil increased perceived alertness during the simulated patient care sessions but worsened sleep onset when opportunities for sleep arose.

Conclusions: Modafinil increased certain aspects of cognitive function and subjectively improved participants' ability to attend post-night-shift didactic sessions but made it more difficult for participants to fall asleep when opportunities for sleep arose.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources