Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

Hangover Predicts Residual Alcohol Effects on Psychomotor Vigilance the Morning After Intoxication

Jonathan Howland^1,4*, Damaris J. Rohsenow², Caleb A. Bliss¹, Alissa B. Almeida³, Tamara Vehige Calise¹, Timothy Heeren¹ and Michael Winter¹

¹Boston University, School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States

²Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, 121 South Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, United States

³Boston Medical Center, , 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 1st Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States

⁴Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston University, School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, United States

Received Date: Jul 22, 2010 / Accepted Date: Aug 23, 2010 / Published Date: Aug 23, 2010

Citation: Howland J, Rohsenow DJ, Bliss CA, Almeida AB, Calise TV, et al. (2010) Hangover Predicts Residual Alcohol Effects on Psychomotor Vigilance the Morning After Intoxication. J Addict Res Ther 1:101.DOI: 10.4172/2155-6105.1000101

Copyright: © 2010 Howland J, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Objectives: Both hangover and performance defi cits have been documented the day after drinking to intoxication after breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) has returned to near zero. But few studies have examined the relationship between hangover and post- intoxication performance.

Method: We performed secondary analyses of data from a previously reported controlled cross-over laboratory study to assess the relationship of hangover incidence and severity to sustained attention/reaction time the morning after drinking to about 0.11 g% BrAC. Relationships were investigated while controlling for gender, type of alcoholic beverage (bourbon or vodka), and neurocognitive performance after placebo.

Results: Hangover severity and neurocognitive performance were signi fi cantly correlated. Participants reporting stronger hangover were more impaired than those reporting little or no hangover. Comparing any to no hangover showed a trend in the same direction of effect.

Conclusions: More intense hangover may indicate less fi tness for duty in workers in certain safety-sensitive occupations, with implications for occupational alcohol policies.

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