Effect of High Altitude Exposure, Acclimatization and Re-exposure on Psychomotor Performance in Lowlanders

Effect of High Altitude Exposure, Acclimatization and Re-exposure on Psychomotor Performance and Sleep Quality in Lowlanders

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02731456

Enrollment

Registered

2016-04-07

Start date

2016-03-01

Completion date

2017-12-31

Last updated

2018-04-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Effect of High Altitude

Keywords

high altitude, cognition, sleep

Brief summary

Prospective interventional trial in lowlanders evaluating the effect of acute exposure, acclimatization and re-exposure to high altitude on psychomotor vigilance to measure sustained attention.

Detailed description

Baseline measurements will be performed in Santiago de Chile, 520 m, over the course of 3 days. Participants will then travel by commercial airline (2 h flight) and by bus (2 h ride) to the ALMA base camp located at 2900 m near San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile. Participants will stay there for the next 7 nights and they will spend the days (6 total; 6-8 h daily) at the telescope station at 5050 m while undergoing testing as described above at the first and the last day at 5050m. Daily transports from 2900 to 5050 m will be by car (1 h ride, one way). After the first 7 day altitude sojourn participants will return to the Santiago area (520 m) for a 7 day recovery period. A second altitude sojourn with an identical schedule as the one described above and a final low altitude stay of 3 days will follow.

Interventions

OTHERaltitude exposure

altitude exposure

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* born, raised and currently living \<1300m * No overnight stays at altitudes \>1500m 4 weeks before the study

Exclusion criteria

* previous altitude intolerance \<3000m * pregnancy * health impairment, which requires regular treatment

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Sustained attention measured by a visual pychomotor vigilance test (PVT)	Low altitude dojourn at 520m; forst sojourn at 5050m Day 2, 7; second sojourn at 5050m Day 2, 7	Change in psychomotor response speed across two cycles of altitude exposure, comparing 5050m to 520m.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Indices of sleep quality measured by actigraphy (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency	Low altitude dojourn at 520m; forst sojourn at 5050m Day 2, 7; second sojourn at 5050m Day 2, 7

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 5, 2026