Sleep after Heavy Alcohol Consumption and Physical Activity Levels during Alcohol Hangover

Abstract

Alcohol consumption can negatively affect sleep quality. The current study examined the impact of an evening of alcohol consumption on sleep, and next day activity levels and alcohol hangover. n = 25 healthy social drinkers participated in a naturalistic study, consisting of an alcohol and alcohol-free test day. On both days, a GENEactiv watch recorded sleep and wake, and corresponding activity levels. In addition, subjective assessments of sleep duration and quality were made, and hangover severity, and the amount of consumed alcoholic beverages were assessed. Alcohol consumption was also assessed in real-time during the drinking session, using smartphone technology. The results confirmed, by using both objective and subjective assessments, that consuming a large amount of alcohol has a negative impact on sleep, including a significant reduction in objective sleep efficiency and significantly lower self-reported sleep quality. Activity levels during the hangover day were significantly reduced compared to the alcohol-free control day. Of note, next-morning retrospective alcohol consumption assessments underestimated real-time beverage recordings. In conclusion, heavy alcohol consumption impairs sleep quality, which is associated with increased next day hangover severity and reduced activity levels. The outcome of this study underlines that, in addition to retrospectively reported data, real-time objective assessments are needed to fully understand the effects of heavy drinking.

Relationship between Alcohol Hangover and Physical Endurance Performance: Walking the Samaria Gorge

“…The number of smoked cigarettes was recorded as well, as previous research has shown an interaction between smoking and hangover [18]. To capture possible effects of sleep [14,19,20], total sleep time was recorded as well as the (consciously perceived) number of nightly awakenings. Sleep quality was rated on an 11-point scale ranging from 0 (very poor) to 10 (excellent) [21,22].…”

“…Devenney et al [14] assessed physical activity levels during the hangover state. Compared to an alcohol-free control day, activity levels were significantly reduced in the hangover state.…”

The Effects of SJP-001 on Alcohol Hangover Severity: A Pilot Study

“…Further, the current study used subjective measures of sleep. Subjective assessments of sleep do not always correspond to objective sleep measures [51], such as polysomnography or actigraphy. Future RCTs could usefully include objective sleep measures, for example, by using mobile technology such as the GENEactiv device [51].…”

Proceedings of the 11th Alcohol Hangover Research Group Meeting, in Nadi, Fiji

“…Additionally, total sleeping time and sleep quality have been found to be significantly reduced after an evening of heavy alcohol consumption. Recently, Devenney et al [11] published a study using a GENEactiv watch (Activinsights, Cambridgeshire, UK) to continuously monitor sleep and daytime activity on a drinking night and an alcohol-free control day. The findings confirmed previous self-reports, but also found differences in the GENEactiv recordings, stressing the importance of including objective recordings in naturalistic study designs.…”