Abstract
The current study evaluated the next day consequences of a social night of drinking compared to a no alcohol night, with standardised mood and portable screen-based performance measures assessed in the morning at participants’ homes, and a breathalyser screen for zero alcohol. A mixed sex group (n = 20) took part in the study. Participants reported consuming on average 16.9 units (135 g) alcohol, resulting in a hangover rating of 60 (out of 100) compared to 0.3 following the no alcohol night. Statistical significance comparisons contrasting the hangover with the no alcohol condition revealed an increase in negative mood and irritability during hangover and an (unexpected) increase in risk and thrill seeking. Performance scores showed an overall slowing of responses across measures, but with less impact on errors. The results support the description of hangover as a general state of cognitive impairment, reflected in slower responses and reduced accuracy across a variety of measures of cognitive function. This suggests a general level of impairment due to hangover, as well as increased negative mood. The use of a naturalistic design enabled the impact of more typical levels of alcohol associated with real life social consumption to be assessed, revealing wide ranging neurocognitive impairment with these higher doses. This study has successfully demonstrated the sensitivity of home-based assessment of the impact of alcohol hangover on a range of subjective and objective measures. The observed impairments, which may significantly impair daily activities such as driving a car or job performance, should be further investigated and taken into account by policy makers.
Highlights
The negative consequences of alcohol consumption on safety and productivity are well known, but the separate impact of alcohol hangover has historically received less attention
The study was approved by the University of the West of England Faculty Ethics Committee (Approval number: HLS130235, 1 March 2013), informed consent was obtained from all participants and the study was undertaken in accordance with the British Psychological Society Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009)
All participants had zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) confirmed with the breathalyser prior to their assessments
Summary
The negative consequences of alcohol consumption on safety and productivity are well known, but the separate impact of alcohol hangover has historically received less attention. This is changing, and alcohol hangover is being recognised as important in its own right. Around 9% of workers in the USA report having a hangover whilst at work, which can impair performance both through absenteeism and “presenteeism”—attending but unable to work effectively [1]. Safety critical daily activities such as driving have shown impairment with hangover [5,6]. The economic costs of hangover in terms of absenteeism and presenteeism are estimated at 4 billion GBP annually [7]
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