Solriamfetol for Excessive Sleepiness in Early-Morning Shift Work Disorder

BACKGROUND: More individuals work early-morning shifts than night shifts, yet investigations into the treatment of shift work disorder (SWD) in this population are lacking. METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of solriamfetol, a selective dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, for treating excessive sleepiness in 78 early-morning shift workers (shift starting between 3 and 7 a.m.) with excessive sleepiness associated with SWD. The primary outcome was change in objective sleepiness, as measured by sleep latency on the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (longer latency reflects less sleepiness). Secondary outcomes included subjective sleepiness measured by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (range 1-9, with higher values indicating greater sleepiness) as well as clinician- and patient-assessed change in clinical condition, using the Clinical Global Impression of Change and Patient Global Impression of Change questionnaires (scores range from 1-7 for both scales, but higher scores indicate worse condition for the clinical scale and improved condition for the patient scale). RESULTS: After 4 weeks, patients treated with solriamfetol were significantly less sleepy than those treated with placebo (9.4-minute longer sleep latency; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7 to 13.0; P