A recent Australian study revealed that the drug "quetiapine," which is widely used in low doses to aid sleep, may have negative effects on alertness, concentration, and performance the following day.
This comes at a time of growing concern about the increasing use of sedatives outside their approved uses, particularly for treating insomnia and sleep disorders.
The study included 15 adults with sleep apnea and difficulty staying asleep. Participants spent two nights in a sleep lab; one night they received 50 milligrams of quetiapine, and the other night they received a placebo, with their sleep and performance monitored the following day.
Researchers from Flinders University in Australia found that low doses of quetiapine helped participants sleep longer, reduce nighttime awakenings, decrease the number of sleep apnea episodes, and improve overall sleep efficiency.
Conversely, the results showed that the drug negatively affected alertness levels the following morning, with participants reporting slower response times, increased distractibility, and poorer performance during driving simulation tests—factors associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents.
Criket Fuska, the study's lead author from Flinders University, said that while there is a common belief that low doses of quetiapine are a relatively safe way to help people sleep, the study's findings suggest that its effects are more complex than previously thought.
She added that participants who took the drug slept better during the night, but their performance on alertness and driving tests was significantly worse the following morning.
She explained that what is most worrying is that some participants did not feel drowsy or extremely tired despite their actual performance declining, which may lead them to engage in activities that require high concentration, such as driving, without realizing the extent of the drug's effect on them.
Quetiapine is primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but doctors are increasingly prescribing it in low doses to treat insomnia and anxiety because of its calming effect.
The researchers believe that the study's results confirm the importance of caution when using sedatives to treat sleep disorders, stressing the need to tailor treatment to each patient's condition and the causes of their sleep disorder, rather than relying on general drug solutions that may improve sleep at night at the expense of performance and alertness during the day.
