Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Sleepy driving is a major contributing factor to the motor vehicle crash risk associated with commercial drivers (Pack et al., 2006). In commercial vehicles, approximately 31% to 41% of major crashes can be linked to sleepy driving (Gurubhagavatula et al., 2004). An average non-fatality crash involving a commercial motor vehicle costs about $75,637 while a fatality crash averages about $3.54 million (Gurubhagavatula et al., 2004). A contributing factor to sleepy driving is obstructive sleep apnea (Pack et al., 2006). The purposes of this study were to: (1) determine how many commercial motor vehicle drivers referred to a sleep center as a result of a clinical positive screen by a commercial motor vehicle driver medical examiner had a true positive quantitative test for obstructive sleep apnea, and (2) to determine, on average, how many drivers treated for obstructive sleep apnea met minimum treatment requirements using positive airway pressure therapy at one week, one month, three months, six months and one year. The electronic medical records of 128 commercial motor vehicle drivers were reviewed for diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea with the following findings: 19 (14.9%) had no clinically significant obstructive sleep apnea, 51 (39.8%) had mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea, and 58 (45.3%) had moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. Of the original 83 drivers prescribed positive airway pressure therapy, 25 (30.1%) were meeting the minimal adherence goal at 1 year of treatment. Of drivers with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, 21 (36.2%) of the original 58 prescribed treatment were meeting the adherence goal at 1 year while 4 (16%) of the original 25 drivers with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea were meeting this goal.
Author: Gayla A. Slusher Dace
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: University of Missouri
OpenAlex ID: W2260747410