Background Passengers on long-haul flights frequently consume alcohol. Inflight sleep exacerbates the fall in blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) caused by the decreased oxygen partial pressure in the cabin. We investigated the combined influence of alcohol and hypobaric hypoxia on sleep, SpO2 and heart rate. Methods Two groups of healthy individuals spent either two nights with a 4-hour sleep opportunity (00:00–04:00 hours) in the sleep laboratory (n=23; 53 m above sea level) or in the alti...
