4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this protocol is to assess the risk of drowsy driving amongst shift workers using objective measures of drowsiness and driving performance in an instrumented research vehicle.
Firefighters work some of the most demanding schedules known under highly stressful and demanding conditions. The need to work frequent extended shifts and long work weeks leads to acute and chronic partial sleep deprivation as well as misalignment of circadian phase. Sleep disorders are common, costly, and treatable, but often remain undiagnosed and untreated and it is likely that a significant proportion of firefighters suffer from undiagnosed sleep disorders which will further impair their sleep and exacerbate fatigue.In the current proposal, we aim to address the health, performance and safety issues related to fatigue in firefighters and test the effectiveness of a Comprehensive Firefighter Fatigue Management Program (CFFMP) that we have termed 'Operation Healthy Sleep.'
Firefighters frequently work extended duration shifts and long work weeks which have adverse effects on alertness, health, safety and performance. This protocol uses a survey instrument to examine the effects of extended duration shifts on safety outcomes (e.g., motor vehicle crashes, accidents, injuries), health (e.g., diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders, improved general health indices, decreased number of sick days), and performance (e.g., decreased response time). This study will expand understanding of the nature, scope, etiology and consequences of firefighter fatigue and increase our ability to develop guidelines that can be generalized across fire departments throughout North America. This study could provide an avenue to make lasting policy improvements that could enhance the safety, health, and performance of firefighters.
The aim of this study is to develop information about the acute and residual effects of a new product being targeted to young adults. Using a double placebo-controlled 2 X 2 factorial model study design, we will compare the acute and residual effects on driving impairment of caffeinated alcohol, non-caffeinated alcohol, caffeinated placebo, and non-caffeinated placebo. Under the alcohol conditions, participants will receive sufficient alcoholic beverage to attain a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .12 g%. Participants will be 144 undergraduate and graduate students, and recent college graduates.