Mood and performance of poor sleepers during repeated use of flurazepam

Flurazepam had no significant effect on mood or feelings of sleepiness in the morning or at bedtime despite subjective ratings of a ‘more restful’ and ‘better’ sleep and improved sleep latencies.

Abstract

The effects of flurazepam on the mood and performance of poor sleepers were studied over a 10-day drug period. Twelve poor sleepers, selected on the basis of subjective and objective criteria, were divided into two equal groups after a 7-day placebo baseline period. One group received 30 mg flurazepam 15 min before bedtime for 10 consecutive nights while the other group continued to receive placebo in a double-blind paradigm. Three placebo follow-up nights were run on each subject 2–3 weeks after the final drug night. Performance was tested in the morning, 30–45 min after arousal. Flurazepam significantly impaired performance on a 4-choice reaction time task and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) but not on a shortterm memory test. Performance impairment on the DSST showed a drug-tolerance effect across the 10-day drug period while performance impairment on the reaction time task showed no tolerance effect. Flurazepam had no significant effect on mood or feelings of sleepiness in the morning or at bedtime despite subjective ratings of a 'more restful' and 'better' sleep and improved sleep latencies. The placebo baseline mood and performance of the 12 poor sleepers were compared to the mood and performance of 12 good sleepers. Performance did not differ significantly between the two goups. Poor sleepers rated themselves as significantly more tense, confused, fatigued, and less vigorous than the good sleepers.