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).

PurposeWe examined the risk factors for automobile accidents caused by falling asleep while driving in subjects with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).MethodsWe asked licensed drivers with history of snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness who had undergone polysomnography (PSG) at the Department of Sleep Medicine/Sleep Disorders Center at Aichi Medical University Hospital to complete the questionnaires on accidents caused by falling asleep while driving. As a subjective measure of sleepiness, we used the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). Based on PSG results, 2387 subjects diagnosed with OSAS were divided into three groups according to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI): mild-to-moderate (5 ≤ AHI < 30), severe (30 ≤ AHI < 60), and very severe (AHI ≥ 60). We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression on variables that might explain falling asleep at the wheel.ResultsWe compared results between each group and simple snorers (394 subjects with AHI < 5) and found the group with very severe OSAS reported significantly higher rates of driving when drowsy and having accidents in the past 5 years due to falling asleep.ConclusionsOur multivariate analysis suggests that scores on the ESS and patient-reported frequency of feeling drowsy while regular driving and working are related to automobile accidents caused by falling asleep while driving.

Rapid eye movement (REM)-related obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a polysomnographic phenotype that affects 12–36% of OSA patients, is defined by apnea and hypopnea events that predominantly or exclusively occur during REM sleep. Recent studies indicated that REM-related OSA was associated with the development of nocturnal non-dipping of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and depressive symptoms. However, to date, the association between REM-related OSA and insomnia still remains unclear. We investigated whether there was a difference between REM- and non-REM-related OSA in terms of insomnia-related sleep disturbance as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in 1736 patients with OSA. REM-related OSA showed a significant association with increased PSQI in all adjusted models. In the subgroup analysis, the coefficients of all models were higher in female than in male patients with REM-related OSA. Insomnia should be considered an important complaint in patients with REM-related OSA, and its indicators, such as the PSQI, should be included in routine diagnostic testing.

Objectives The multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) has been employed extensively in clinical and research settings as a gold standard for objectively measuring sleepiness. In a general population or in a variety of work settings, however, a more convenient, rapidly administered measuring method is preferable. We examined the potential utility of pupillometry by comparing its objective measures, pupillary unrest index (PUI) and relative pupillary unrest index (RPUI), with MSLT-derived sleep latency (SL). Methods The study cohort comprised 45 patients (39 males, 6 females, mean age 38.9 ± 11.3 years) referred to the Sleep Disorders Center for the two-nap SL test. SL was measured twice before noon, and pupillometric measurement was performed immediately before each SL test. Subjective sleepiness was measured by using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results The association between PUI and SL was significant and far closer than that between RPUI and SL. A significant difference was observed between the two groups, based on each subject's experience of drowsy driving accidents over the past 3 years in the PUI and RPUI, as well as in SL. The subjective sleepiness measure, ESS, did not relate to any other physiological sleepiness measures.Conclusions In our study cohort, the pupillometric sleepiness measure, PUI, was significantly correlated with, and behaved in a manner equivalent to, MSLT-derived SL in clinically sleepy patients. However, several points remain to be carefully examined before applying pupillometry for screening sleepiness in a general population, or in occupational settings.

School non-attendance due to difficulties waking up is increasing in Japan, and affected students are commonly diagnosed with orthostatic dysregulation (OD); however, OD-associated sleep problems are overlooked. To date, no sleep-medicine-based treatment for wake-up difficulties in non-school-attending students has been established. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a novel combination therapy for these students. We assessed the combined effect of sleep hygiene guidance, low-dose aripiprazole administration (3 mg/day), and blue-light exposure on wake-up difficulty in 21 non-school-attending teenage patients. The patients were evaluated using sleep studies and questionnaires before and after treatment. The average subjective total sleep time calculated from sleep diaries before treatment in the patients was 10.3 h. The therapy improved wake-up difficulty by 85.7% and further improved school non-attendance by 66.7%. The subjective sleep time significantly decreased by 9.5 h after treatment (p = 0.0004). The self-rating Depression Scale and mental component summary of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey significantly improved after treatment (p = 0.002 and p = 0.01, respectively). Wake-up difficulties were caused by the addition of a delayed sleep phase to the patients’ long sleep times. The novel combination therapy was effective in improving wake-up difficulty and mental quality of life in non-school-attending teenage students.