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Sleepiness, near‐misses and driving accidents among a representative population of French drivers
Author(s) -
SAGASPE PATRICIA,
TAILLARD JACQUES,
BAYON VIRGINIE,
LAGARDE EMMANUEL,
MOORE NICHOLAS,
BOUSSUGE JACQUES,
CHAUMET GUILLAUME,
BIOULAC BERNARD,
PHILIP PIERRE
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00818.x
Subject(s) - epworth sleepiness scale , odds ratio , logistic regression , confidence interval , near miss , demography , population , medicine , poison control , injury prevention , telephone survey , psychology , occupational safety and health , telephone interview , psychiatry , medical emergency , environmental health , forensic engineering , polysomnography , engineering , advertising , social science , apnea , pathology , sociology , business
Summary Study objectives were to determine the prevalence of sleepy driving accidents and to explore the factors associated with near‐miss driving accidents and actual driving accidents in France. An epidemiological survey based on telephone interviews was conducted on a representative sample of French drivers. The questionnaire included sociodemographics, driving and sleep disorder items, and the Epworth sleepiness scale. Of 4774 drivers (response rate: 86%), 28% experienced at least one episode of severe sleepiness at the wheel (i.e. requiring to stop driving) in the previous year; 11% of drivers reported at least one near‐miss accident in the previous year (46% sleep‐related); 5.8% of drivers reported at least one accident, 5.2% of these being sleep related (an estimate of 90 000 sleep‐related accidents per year in France). Sleepy driving accidents occurred more often in the city (53.8%), during short trips (84.6%) and during the day (84.6%). Using logistic regression, the best predictive factor for near‐misses was the occurrence of at least one episode of severe sleepiness at the wheel in the past year [odds ratio (OR) 6.50, 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.20–8.12, P < 0.001]. The best predictive factors for accidents were being young (18–30 years; OR 2.13, 95% CI, 1.51–3.00, P < 0.001) and experiencing at least one episode of severe sleepiness at the wheel (OR 2.03, 95% CI, 1.57–2.64, P < 0.001). Sleepiness at the wheel is a risk factor as important as age for traffic accidents. Near‐misses are highly correlated to sleepiness at the wheel and should be considered as strong warning signals for future accidents.