Dataset Information

The Impact of Alcohol Hangover on Simulated Driving Performance During a 'Commute to Work'-Zero and Residual Alcohol Effects Compared.

ABSTRACT: Driving is increasing across the world and road traffic accidents are a major cause of serious injuries and fatalities. The link between alcohol consumption and impaired driving has long been established and has led to legislation in many countries, with enforcement of legal limits based on blood alcohol concentration levels. Alcohol hangover research is an emerging field with a range of laboratory and naturalistic studies now clearly demonstrating the significant impairments that can result from hangover, even when alcohol levels are measured at or close to zero the day following a social drinking occasion. Driving is a commonplace activity but requires competency with a range of complex and potentially demanding tasks. Driving impaired can have serious consequences, including death and serious injury. There have been only limited alcohol hangover driving studies. The studies presented examined the consequences of alcohol hangover with a driving simulator contrasting a group with zero residual alcohol (N = 26) next day and another with residual alcohol (N = 26) assessed with breathalyzer in the morning before undertaking a 20 min commute to work. All participants completed a morning drive after a night without alcohol consumption and another after a night of social drinking. The driving scenarios were relatively demanding including traffic and pedestrians, traffic lights and other potential hazards in a mixed rural and urban journey. Subjective hangover and workload were assessed in addition to a range of driving performance variables, including divided attention, steering control and driving violations. Analyses contrasted driving in the no alcohol condition with the residual alcohol condition. The combined groups data (N = 52) was contrasted with the zero and residual alcohol groups. Significant contrasts were found for a range of driving measures, including divided attention, vehicle control, and driving violations as well as perceived workload. The pattern of impairment was broadly similar across both groups, indicating that whether or not residual alcohol was present, consistent driving impairment was seen. The relatively high number of significant variables may reflect the increased cognitive demand of the 20 min commute drive including busy and complex urban environments. This was also reflected in the significant increase in perceived workload recorded across the 6 dimensions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Associations between subjective measures and driving performance with hangover suggested a potential lack of awareness of impairment, though were limited in number. The overall findings indicate that the levels of impairment seen reflect those seen with alcohol impaired driving, even when breath alcohol is zero.

SUBMITTER: Alford C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7291334 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Impact of Alcohol Hangover on Simulated Driving Performance During a 'Commute to Work'-Zero and Residual Alcohol Effects Compared.

Alford Chris C Broom Callum C Carver Harriet H Johnson Sean J SJ Lands Sam S Reece Rebecca R Verster Joris C JC

Journal of clinical medicine 20200512 5

Driving is increasing across the world and road traffic accidents are a major cause of serious injuries and fatalities. The link between alcohol consumption and impaired driving has long been established and has led to legislation in many countries, with enforcement of legal limits based on blood alcohol concentration levels. Alcohol hangover research is an emerging field with a range of laboratory and naturalistic studies now clearly demonstrating the significant impairments that can result fro ...[more]

PMID: 32408588

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Project description:ObjectiveDaily cannabis users develop tolerance to some drug effects, but the extent to which this diminishes driving impairment is uncertain. This study compared the impact of acute cannabis use on driving performance in occasional and daily cannabis users using a driving simulator.MethodsWe used a within-subjects design to observe driving performance in adults age 25 to 45 years with different cannabis use histories. Eighty-five participants (43 males, 42 females) were included in the final analysis: 24 occasional users (1 to 2 times per week), 31 daily users and 30 non-users. A car-based driving simulator (MiniSim™, National Advanced Driving Simulator) was used to obtain two measures of driving performance, standard deviation of lateral placement (SDLP) and speed relative to posted speed limit, in simulated urban driving scenarios at baseline and 30 min after a 15 min ad libitum cannabis smoking period. Participants smoked self-supplied cannabis flower product (15% to 30% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Blood samples were collected before and after smoking (30 min after the start of smoking). Non-users performed the same driving scenarios before and after an equivalent rest interval. Changes in driving performance were analyzed by repeated measures general linear models.ResultsMean whole blood THC cannabinoids concentrations post smoking were use THC = 6.4 ± 5.6 ng/ml, THC-COOH = 10.9 ± 8.79 ng/mL for occasional users and THC = 36.4 ± 37.4 ng/mL, THC-COOH = 98.1 ± 90.6 ng/mL for daily users. On a scale of 0 to 100, the mean post-use score of subjective high was similar in occasional users and daily users (52.4 and 47.2, respectively). In covariate-adjusted analysis, occasional users had a significant increase in SDLP in the straight road segment from pre to post compared to non-users; non-users decreased by a mean of 1.1 cm (25.5 cm to 24.4 cm) while occasional users increased by a mean of 1.9 cm (21.7 cm to 23.6 cm; p = 0.02). Daily users also increased adjusted SDLP in straight road segments from baseline to post-use (23.2 cm to 25.0 cm), but the change relative to non-users was not statistically significant (p = 0.08). The standardized mean difference in unadjusted SDLP from baseline to post-use in the straight road segments comparing occasional users to non-users was 0.64 (95% CI 0.09 - 1.19), a statistically significant moderate increase. When occasional users were contrasted with daily users, the baseline to post changes in SDLP were not statistically significant. Daily users exhibited a mean decrease in baseline to post-use adjusted speed in straight road segments of 1.16 mph; a significant change compared to slight speed increases in the non-users and occasional users (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively).ConclusionWe observed a decrement in driving performance assessed by SDLP after acute cannabis smoking that was statistically significant only in the occasional users in comparison to the nonusers. Direct contrasts between the occasional users and daily users in SDLP were not statistically significant. Daily users drove slower after cannabis use as compared to the occasional use group and non-users. The study results do not conclusively establish that occasional users exhibit more driving impairment than daily users when both smoke cannabis ad libitum.

Dataset Information

The Impact of Alcohol Hangover on Simulated Driving Performance During a 'Commute to Work'-Zero and Residual Alcohol Effects Compared.

Publications

The Impact of Alcohol Hangover on Simulated Driving Performance During a 'Commute to Work'-Zero and Residual Alcohol Effects Compared.

Similar Datasets

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