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Falling asleep while driving and automobile accidents among patients with obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome
Author(s) -
SHIOMI TOSHIAKI,
ARITA AKI TANIGUCHI,
SASANABE RYUJIRO,
BANNO KATSUHISA,
YAMAKAWA HIROKI,
HASEGAWA RIKA,
OZEKI KAORI,
OKADA MAKI,
ITO ASAO
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.01004.x
Subject(s) - falling (accident) , obstructive sleep apnea , hypopnea , medicine , poison control , injury prevention , apnea , sleep (system call) , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , physical medicine and rehabilitation , audiology , medical emergency , emergency medicine , anesthesia , polysomnography , psychiatry , computer science , pathology , operating system
Among 448 patients with obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), 40 patients (8.9%) had been involved in one or more automobile accidents during the preceding 5 years. The main cause of these accidents was falling asleep while driving. Excessive sleepiness during driving was associated with an Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) score of > 11 and/or an apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of > 15. The automobile accident rate among 182 patients with severe OSAHS (AHI > 30) was significantly higher than the rate among 106 simple snorers (AHI < 5). Although four of the simple snorers were involved in automobile accidents, their ESS scores were all very high (15 or more).