FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
PUBLICATIONS
AVIATION MEDICINE REPORTS

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-97/25

Title and Subtitle: Workshift and antihistamine effects on task performance

Report Date: December 1997

Authors: Gilliland, K., Schlegel, R.E., and Nesthus, T.E.

Abstract: Sixteen male subjects, well-trained on a battery of cognitive performance assessment tasks, participated in a study to investigate the effects on human operator performance of work shift (Day Shift vs. Midshift), a specific antihistamine drug (4 mg of ChlorTrimeton® brand chlorpheniramine maleate), and time on task accompanying three successive drug doses spaced every four hours. Five performance tasks, two work sample tasks, and four subjective scales were included in the study. In summary, chlorpheniramine maleate alone had a strong negative influence on a wide range of task performance and mood measures. There was a rather complex relationship between work shift and time on the shift such that performance and mood during the Day Shift tended to get better and during the Midshift tended to get worse. No evidence was found that chlorpheniramine maleate and work shift combine to produce a multiplicative effect.

Key Words: Shift work, Human Performance, Chlorpheniramine Maleate

No. of Pages: 100