A critical analysis of alcohol hangover research methodology for surveys or studies of effects on cognition

Stephens, Richard; Grange, James A.; Jones, Kate; Owen, Lauren

doi:10.1007/s00213-014-3531-4

Cited by 31 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(90 reference statements)

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“…We allowed participants the freedom to consume the alcoholic beverage and quantity of their choice, but then were largely reliant on the participants’ estimates for amount of alcohol consumed, which can be inaccurate particularly as alcohol is a memory impairing drug 23 . One method to improve this would be to include objective and remote measurements of blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) throughout the duration of the study, such as fitting participants with a continuous transdermal alcohol monitor that continually assesses BAC through perspiration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting

Carlyle

Dumay

Roberts

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Alcohol is known to facilitate memory if given after learning information in the laboratory; we aimed to investigate whether this effect can be found when alcohol is consumed in a naturalistic setting. Eighty-eight social drinkers were randomly allocated to either an alcohol self-dosing or a sober condition. The study assessed both retrograde facilitation and alcohol induced memory impairment using two independent tasks. In the retrograde task, participants learnt information in their own homes, and then consumed alcohol ad libitum. Participants then undertook an anterograde memory task of alcohol impairment when intoxicated. Both memory tasks were completed again the following day. Mean amount of alcohol consumed was 82.59 grams over the evening. For the retrograde task, as predicted, both conditions exhibited similar performance on the memory task immediately following learning (before intoxication) yet performance was better when tested the morning after encoding in the alcohol condition only. The anterograde task did not reveal significant differences in memory performance post-drinking. Units of alcohol drunk were positively correlated with the amount of retrograde facilitation the following morning. These findings demonstrate the retrograde facilitation effect in a naturalistic setting, and found it to be related to the self-administered grams of alcohol.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting

Carlyle

Dumay

Roberts

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Disagreements in the definition of alcohol hangover may contribute to inconstancies with study designs and measures . Some researchers argue that hangover constitutes any next‐day effects following a night of heavy alcohol consumption, and often do not measure blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or hangover at the time of testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peak BAC during a night of ‘heavy’ drinking may also contribute to conflicting results . To induce a hangover, high amounts of alcohol (> 1 g/kg) are consumed , and the higher the amount the more severe are the cognitive impairments .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the next‐day effects of heavy alcohol consumption on cognitive performance

et al. 2018

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Background and aimsStudies examining the next‐day cognitive effects of heavy alcohol consumption have produced mixed findings, which may reflect inconsistencies in definitions of ‘hangover’. Recent consensus has defined hangover as ‘mental and physical symptoms, experienced the day after a single episode of heavy drinking, starting when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) approaches zero’. In light of this, we aimed to review the literature systematically to evaluate and estimate mean effect sizes of the next‐day effects of heavy alcohol consumption on cognition.MethodsEmbase, PubMed and PsycNET databases were searched between December 2016 and May 2018 using terms based on ‘alcohol’ and ‘hangover’. Studies of experimental designs which reported the next‐day cognitive effects of heavy alcohol consumption in a ‘hangover’ group with BAC < 0.02% were reviewed. A total of 805 articles were identified. Thirty‐nine full‐text articles were screened by two independent reviewers and 19 included in the systematic review; 11 articles provided sufficient data to be included in the meta‐analysis; 1163 participants across 19 studies conducted since 1970 were included in the analysis. Data for study design, hangover severity, BAC at testing and cognitive performance were extracted and effect estimates calculated.ResultsThe systematic review suggested that sustained attention and driving abilities were impaired during hangover. Mixed results were observed for: psychomotor skills, short‐ (STM) and long‐term memory (LTM) and divided attention. The meta‐analysis revealed evidence of impairments in STM [g = 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.15–1.13], LTM (Hedges’ g = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.01–1.17) sustained attention (g = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.07–0.87) and psychomotor speed (Hedges’ g = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.31–1.00) during alcohol hangover.ConclusionThe research literature suggests that alcohol hangovers may involve impaired cognitive functions and performance of everyday tasks such as driving.

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“…An alcohol hangover may result in impaired cognitive performance [3-5], negatively affecting the completion of everyday activities such as job performance [2] and driving [6]. Within laboratory settings, mixed effects have been found on simple tests of short duration that require little effort and/or cognitive demand.…”

Section: Cognitive Effects Of the Alcohol Hangovermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within laboratory settings, mixed effects have been found on simple tests of short duration that require little effort and/or cognitive demand. The use of various methodological designs across these studies may have contributed to these inconsistencies and make direct comparisons of findings and interpretations of results difficult [1, 3]. More demanding tests that require cognitive resources for a sustained period, such as those measuring executive functioning, division of attention, and driving simulator performance, often show significant impairment.…”

Section: Cognitive Effects Of the Alcohol Hangovermentioning

confidence: 99%

Proceeding of the 8th Alcohol Hangover Research Group Meeting

Mackus

Adams

A³

et al. 2017

CDAR

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Alcohol hangover is one of the most commonly experienced consequences of alcohol consumption. An alcohol hangover develops as the blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) approaches zero, and is characterized by a general feeling of misery. More insight into the pathology of an alcohol hangover needs to be gained, in order to enhance the understanding of the area, and as a potential contribution to the innovation of a preventative or hangover curing treatment. The Alcohol Hangover Research Group (AHRG) was founded to support the area of alcohol hangover. This proceeding describes the latest findings in the area of alcohol hangovers, and future research plans, discussed at the 8th Alcohol Hangover Research Group meeting, held on June 25, 2016, New Orleans, USA. Novel insight in potential causes, consequences, and treatment of alcohol hangover were revealed during the meeting, as well as further research plans to examine biomarkers of recent alcohol consumption, immune functioning, alcohol metabolism, and potential treatments.

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A critical analysis of alcohol hangover research methodology for surveys or studies of effects on cognition

Abstract: Recommendations are made with respect to assessing hangover symptoms, cognitive effects of hangover and biological markers of alcohol consumption.

Cited by 31 publications

References 66 publications

Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting

Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting

A systematic review of the next‐day effects of heavy alcohol consumption on cognitive performance

Proceeding of the 8th Alcohol Hangover Research Group Meeting

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