Effects of alcohol on psychomotor performance of men and women.

Abstract

The effect of 4 doses of alcohol (0.0, 0.5, 0.8 and 1.2 g/kg of body weight, diluted to 4 dl) on psychomotor performance was tested in 10 men and 10 women (aged 21-26). The blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of the men and women did not differ. A continuous tracking task was most sensitive to alcohol effects; the mean threshold of significant impairment on this task was at a BAC of 0.03%. Visual vigilance requiring spatial discrimination and prolonged attention was more affected by alcohol than was a briefer continuous performance task requiring verbal information processing. Acute tolerance to alcohol was not significant; the time of day had no effect. In the sober condition, 50% of the women performed worse on reaction time tasks and on the more demanding portions of the tracking task than did the worst-performing man; in consequence, these women appeared more impaired after low alcohol doses.