Citation

Caldwell JA. Transp. Res. F Traffic Psychol. Behav. 2001; 4(1): 19-37.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S1369-8478(01)00011-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present report details the results of a quasi-experimental comparison between the alerting effects of modafinil (Provigil) and those of dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) in sleep-deprived pilots. Data from two separate placebo-controlled studies (one on Dexedrine and one on Provigil) were merged and analyzed to determine whether one compound produced greater effects than the other relative to placebo. The results indicated there were differences between the two stimulants on only two of the 14 dependent measures. In one case (a flight performance measure), modafinil was more effective than dextroamphetamine, and in the other case (subjective fatigue ratings), dextroamphetamine was better than modafinil. The remaining measures indicated no statistically-significant differences between the two stimulants. However, in the majority of cases, it was clear that performance, subjective mood ratings, and physiological indices of alertness were substantially better under both drugs than under placebo. Thus, with the exception that modafinil produced more spontaneous reports of side effects than dextroamphetamine, the overall results indicated equivalent efficacy with the two compounds. Limitations of this study were that the two compounds were tested on different samples at different points in time, and there was no systematic measurement of side effects (instead, spontaneous reports were recorded). Future work should validate the present results in a controlled side-by-side comparison of dextroamphetamine and modafinil under conditions similar to the ones reported here.