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Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Road Accident Risk

Sleep Medi; 2016 Sep 13; Garbarino, et al

Publish date:

Untreated individuals with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a significantly increased risk of near miss road accidents, which can be reduced with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, a recent study showed. The study evaluated 283 male truck drivers (mean age 42.3 years) of dangerous goods (TDDGs) in order to assess the prevalence of OSA and to verify the secondary risk of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and near miss accidents (NMAs) in this population. Researchers found:

  • 139 (49.1%) subjects had suspected OSA, with confirmed diagnosis in 35.7%.
  • There was a significant association between OSA severity and NMAs.
  • Individuals with severe OSA showed a near 5-fold increased risk of NMAs (OR, 4.745).
  • After 2 years of CPAP treatment, the rate of NMAs was comparable with drivers without OSA.

Citation:

Garbarino S, Guglielmi O, Campus C, et al. Screening, diagnosis, and management of obstructive sleep apnea in dangerous-goods truck drivers: To be aware or not? Sleep Medi. 2016;25:98-104. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2016.05.015.

Commentary:

OSA is typically characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) associated with obstructive apneas and hypopneas during sleep, usually with greater than 5 to 15 apnea-hypopnea events per hour. Risk factors for OSA include increased age, male gender, and obesity.1 Previous studies have shown that EDS increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents by 2- to 8-fold, and treatment with CPAP appears to decrease this risk.2,3 The information in the present study is startling. This suggests that OSA with EDS is far more common than we thought in this group of patients, and warrants a low threshold for initial questioning and further evaluation. —Neil Skolnik, MD

  1. Young T, Skatrud J, Peppard PE. Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea in adults. JAMA. 2004;291(16):2013-6. doi:10.1001/jama.291.16.2013.
  2. Lloberes P, Levy G, Descals C, et al. Self-reported sleepiness while driving as a risk factor for traffic accidents in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and non-apnoeic snorers. Respir Med. 2000;94:971–6.
  3. Barbé F, Sunyer J, de la Pena A, et al. Effect of continuous positive airway pressure on the risk of road accidents in sleep apnea patients. Respiration. 2007;74:44–9.

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