Boston — Results of a recent clinical trial show that a drug approved to treat excessive daytime sleepiness among people with sleep apnea or narcolepsy may help early-morning shift workers feel “significantly less sleepy.”
Researchers from the Mass General Brigham hospital system recently found that solriamfetol can help boost alertness in workers who begin shifts earlier than usual. The drug is prescribed under the brand name Sunosi.
The study involved 78 workers who start their workdays between 3 and 7 a.m. Each participant experienced excessive sleepiness related to shift work disorder, a condition caused by working night or rotating shifts during the hours when people typically sleep.
Half the workers took solriamfetol each workday for over four weeks, while the other half was given a placebo. The researchers examined the workers’ ability to remain awake in a quiet, dark environment during their usual work hours.
The group who took solriamfetol reported better work productivity and overall functioning than the placebo group.
“The improvement we saw is clinically meaningful,” senior study author Charles Czeisler, chief and senior physician of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine, said in a press release. “These workers were able to stay awake and alert throughout a full eight-hour shift, which has real implications for performance, safety and quality of life.
“Shift workers are essential to how our society functions, yet they often pay a hidden biological cost. This study shows we can do better for them.”
The study was published in the journal NEJM Evidence.
