The Efficacy of Modafinil as an Operational Fatigue Countermeasure Over Several Days of Reduced Sleep During a Simulated Escape and Evasion Scenario
Abstract
The study presented was an assessment of the operational efficacy of modafinil for field environments, particularly focused on a type of environment which downed aircrew may encounter. This study was designed to examine the ability of modafinil to maintain alertness and performance over several days of reduced sleep in a field environment. The type of activity used in this study may be similar to some escape and evasion scenarios in which downed aircrew might find themselves. In addition, this type of environment and workload was similar to what some special forces personnel might experience. Results from this study will help in developing the operational guidelines for the special forces community and possibly provide support for the inclusion of modafinil in aircrew survival kits. In general, the cognitive and sleepiness data support the hypothesis that modafinil would partially attenuate the performance decrements associated with fatigue (both sleep loss and circadian variation) in this study. The trends are fairly consistent across tests even though statistically significant differences between the conditions are intermittent. One of the most significant findings was the acceptance of modafinil amongst E & E experts was overwhelmingly high, with few side effects reported, and their unanimous agreement that modafinil was useful for field operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA422857
Entities
People
- Brandon Doan
- Jeffery Whitmore
- Jonathan French
- Joseph Fischer
- Tara Heintz
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory