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
Clinical Trial
. 2000 Oct;57(10):649-55.
doi: 10.1136/oem.57.10.649.

Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication

A M Williamson  1 , A M Feyer
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication

A M Williamson et al. Occup Environ Med. 2000 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the relative effects on performance of sleep deprivation and alcohol.

Methods: Performance effects were studied in the same subjects over a period of 28 hours of sleep deprivation and after measured doses of alcohol up to about 0.1% blood alcohol concentration (BAC). There were 39 subjects, 30 employees from the transport industry and nine from the army.

Results: After 17-19 hours without sleep, corresponding to 2230 and 0100, performance on some tests was equivalent or worse than that at a BAC of 0.05%. Response speeds were up to 50% slower for some tests and accuracy measures were significantly poorer than at this level of alcohol. After longer periods without sleep, performance reached levels equivalent to the maximum alcohol dose given to subjects (BAC of 0. 1%).

Conclusions: These findings reinforce the evidence that the fatigue of sleep deprivation is an important factor likely to compromise performance of speed and accuracy of the kind needed for safety on the road and in other industrial settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Drug Alcohol Rev. 1991;10(2):151-66 - PubMed
    1. Sleep. 1991 Dec;14(6):540-5 - PubMed
    1. N Engl J Med. 1976 Mar 25;294(13):687-90 - PubMed
    1. Sleep. 1988 Feb;11(1):100-9 - PubMed
    1. J Clin Epidemiol. 1992 Aug;45(8):821-5 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms