Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-88/2
Title and Subtitle: Age, alcohol, and simulated altitude: Effects on performance and breathalyzer scores.
Report Date: January 1988
Authors: Collins WE, Mertens HW.
Abstract: Trained men in two groups, 30-39 (n=12) and 60-69 (n=13), each performed at the Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB) in four separate full-day sessions with and without alcohol (2.2 mL of 100-proof vodka per kg of body weight) at ground level and at a simulated altitude of 12,500 ft (3810 m).
Subjects breathed appropriate gas mixtures through oxygen masks at both ground level and altitude. Mean breathalyzer readings peaked near 88 mg % and did not differ between age groups or altitude conditions. Younger subjects performed better than older subjects; performance of both age groups was significantly impaired by alcohol, but these adverse effects were greater for the older subjects. No significant effects on performance were obtained due to altitude or to the interaction of altitude with alcohol.
These results and those from several other studies suggest that prevalent views regarding the nature of the combined effects of alcohol and altitude on blood levels and on performance need to be redefined.
Key Words: alcohol consumption, performance (human), stress (physiology), adverse conditions, aging (physiology), altitude, blood, gases, ground level, interactions, intoxication, mixtures, oxygen masks, simulation, physiological effects, response (biology).
No. of Pages: 20
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-88/2
Title and Subtitle: Age, alcohol, and simulated altitude: Effects on performance and breathalyzer scores.
Report Date: January 1988
Authors: Collins WE, Mertens HW.
Abstract: Trained men in two groups, 30-39 (n=12) and 60-69 (n=13), each performed at the Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB) in four separate full-day sessions with and without alcohol (2.2 mL of 100-proof vodka per kg of body weight) at ground level and at a simulated altitude of 12,500 ft (3810 m).
Subjects breathed appropriate gas mixtures through oxygen masks at both ground level and altitude. Mean breathalyzer readings peaked near 88 mg % and did not differ between age groups or altitude conditions. Younger subjects performed better than older subjects; performance of both age groups was significantly impaired by alcohol, but these adverse effects were greater for the older subjects. No significant effects on performance were obtained due to altitude or to the interaction of altitude with alcohol.
These results and those from several other studies suggest that prevalent views regarding the nature of the combined effects of alcohol and altitude on blood levels and on performance need to be redefined.
Key Words: alcohol consumption, performance (human), stress (physiology), adverse conditions, aging (physiology), altitude, blood, gases, ground level, interactions, intoxication, mixtures, oxygen masks, simulation, physiological effects, response (biology).
No. of Pages: 20
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012