Quetiapine Worsens Driving by 33% in Sleep Apnea Trial as Attention Lapses Jump 5-Fold
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Jun 9
Quetiapine Worsens Driving by 33% in Sleep Apnea Trial as Attention Lapses Jump 5-Fold
2 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Jun 9
Summary
A 15-person clinical trial found low-dose quetiapine improved sleep in people with obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia symptoms, but left them slower to react and less able to drive safely the next morning.
On a 10-minute vigilance test, median attention lapses rose from 2 on placebo to 10 on quetiapine, while simulated drivers drifted 33% farther from lane center and crash rates nearly doubled.
Researchers said the risk is especially concerning because some participants did not feel unusually sleepy despite worse objective performance, creating a mismatch that could mask impairment.
Flinders University scientists urged tighter prescribing and said quetiapine should not be routine sleep medication for people with known or possible sleep apnea, a condition affecting nearly 1 billion people and often undiagnosed.
The study, published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society, tested one night each of quetiapine and placebo; the team said larger, longer trials at different doses are needed.
Could a popular off-label sleep aid make you a dangerous driver, even when you feel completely rested and alert the next day?
With new research highlighting its hidden dangers, will insurers now deny coverage for this widely used off-label sleep medication?
Is the off-label use of antipsychotics for sleep masking a much larger, undiagnosed public health crisis like sleep apnea?
Widespread Off-Label Use of Quetiapine for Sleep: Clinical Risks, Next-Day Impairment, and the Urgent Need for Safer Insomnia Treatments
Overview
Recent clinical trials and expert commentary highlight growing safety concerns about the off-label use of quetiapine for sleep. Although quetiapine is often prescribed at low doses for insomnia due to its strong sedating effects, experts like Professor Danny Eckert warn that this practice is risky, especially since many people with sleep complaints may have undiagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). With about 80 percent of OSA cases going undiagnosed, patients may receive quetiapine without proper assessment, increasing the risk of next-day impairment and other adverse effects. This underscores the urgent need for more careful prescribing and thorough sleep evaluations.