[Mental performance after administration of chloral hydrate. Evaluation of hangover with clinical dose within the scope of a placebo controlled double-blind study].

Many hypnotic drugs are associated with hangover effects that impair performance thus compromising safety, e.g. in road traffic.To investigate this phenomenon, a daily dose of 1,000 mg (2 capsules of 500 mg) was given to twenty healthy men and women (mean age 44.1 +/- 8.6 years) over a period of six days. The test subjects were examined prior to treatment, 1 hour after the first dose of 1,000 mg and in morning and afternoon of the day following the 1st, 3rd and 6th evening doses. A second group of equal number and equal size received placebo and served as controls. Medication was given in a randomized, double-blind manner.Seven items of performance were examined (including reaction ability, concentration and vigilance) together with state of well-being and adverse reactions.As expected of a hypnotic drug, the acute effect of chloral hydrate included a number of disturbances of performance (in particular processing of information) and well-being. However, when chloral hydrate was taken in the evening as intended, the test subjects were able to concentrate better the next day, and were calmer and more balanced.