Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2023
Effects of modafinil and caffeine on night-time vigilance of air force crewmembers: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acute caffeine supplementation as a nutrition-based strategy to mitigate sleep-loss-related cognitive and operational performance impairments in military personnel: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Safety and cognitive pharmacodynamics following dose escalations with 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC): a first in human, designer drug study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Cognitive Framework for Aircraft Piloting: A Core Cognition Set.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Differential cognitive enhancer effects of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine on age-related deficits in vigilance and sustained attention: a preclinical validation study.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2025Article
- Nighttime caffeine intake increases motor impulsivity.iScience · 2025Article
- Stable interindividual differences in modafinil's effect on vigilance during sleep deprivation.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Essential oil-derived compounds target core fatigue-related genes: A network pharmacology and molecular Docking approach.PloS one · 2025Article
- Comparison of effects of modafinil and caffeine on fatigue-vulnerable and fatigue-resistant aircrew after a limited period of sleep deprivation.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFatigue remains an important factor in major aviation accidents. Stimulants may counteract fatigue's adverse effects, with modafinil as a promising alternative to caffeine. However, the effect of a single dose of modafinil after a limited period of sleep deprivation remains unknown.
aimsThis study aims to determine the effect of 200 mg modafinil on vigilance during a limited period of sleep deprivation compared to 300 mg caffeine and placebo.
methodsThirty-two volunteers of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) were double-blindly administered modafinil, caffeine, and placebo on three non-consecutive trial days after being awake for median 17 h. Afterwards, subjects completed six series of the Vigilance and Tracking test (VigTrack), psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), and Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), yielding six primary endpoints.
resultsThis study revealed statistically significant effects of caffeine and modafinil compared with placebo on all endpoints, except for VigTrack mean tracking error. PVT results were less impaired 2 h after administration, followed by VigTrack parameters and SSS scores 2 h thereafter. Compared with caffeine, modafinil significantly improved PVT and SSS scores at 8 h after administration.
conclusionsThe present study demonstrates that 200 mg modafinil and 300 mg caffeine significantly decrease the effects of a limited period of sleep deprivation on vigilance compared with placebo. Although PVT parameters already improved 2 h after administration, the most notable effects occurred 2-4 h later. Modafinil seems to be effective longer than caffeine, which is consistent with its longer half-life.
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