• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2006

Introduction: Excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy are key features of narcolepsy. Modafinil is psychostimulant used in the treatment of narcolepsy. In this study, we evaluated effects of modafinil on nocturnal sleep structure and sleep latency in multiple sleep latency test and clinical features. Methods: Twelve narcoleptic patients (7 male, age: $22.9{\pm}2.6\;yrs$) were participated in the study. All of them had done nocturnal polysomnography (nPSG), multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), clinical symptoms scales and have repeated same procedure after taking 200 mg of modafinil. We have done linear mixed model analysis to describe effects of group, medication and nap time on these measures. Results: Modafinil did not affect clinical scales except PSQI which had been reduced after medication. In this study, Modafinil reduced total sleep time, sleep efficiency and increased wake after sleep onset and percent of arousal during sleep in nocturnal polysomnography and prolonged mean sleep latency in multiple sleep latency tests in both group. Discussion: Modafinil has stimulant effect of central nervous system but its effect on night sleep is less than other psychostimulants such as methylphenidate. We ascertained that modafinil affected total sleep time, sleep efficiency and percent of wake during sleep but did not effect on sleep structure. Modafinil was effective in the management of day time sleepiness. Modafinil can enhance alertness of control group without day time sleepiness.