The Efficacy of Dextroamphetamine as a Motion Sickness Countermeasure for the Use in Military Operational Environments

Abstract : Previous research examining pharmacological solutions for motion sickness have reported that dextroamphetamine (d-amphetamine) imparts significant protection against provocative motion without conferring drowsiness or significant side effects. If the purported anti-motion sicknesses properties of d-amphetamine are accurate, the military could utilize a single medication for motion sickness and fatigue prevention. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and side effect profile of this potential motion sickness countermeasure for use in military environments. It was hypothesized that subjects in the oral d-amphetamine condition would tolerate more head movements than subjects in the placebo condition, without performance decrements or significant side effects. Thirty-six aviation candidates were randomized to one of two treatment groups and then exposed to passive Coriolis cross-coupling. Medication efficacy was determined by number of head movements tolerated between groups. Cognitive and medication side-effect profiles for both groups were derived from performance on a computer based cognitive battery, measurements of near-focus visual accommodation (VA), scores on the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and motion sickness questionnaires. Analyses demonstrated that there were no significant differences in the number of head movements tolerated between groups and no treatment effects over time on the cognitive battery, VA, or KSS, p > 0.05.