Hypersomnolence and Accidents in Truck Drivers: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

Truck drivers are more likely to suffer severe injury and death due to certain truck driving characteristics. Identifying and preventing factors associated with accidents in this population is important to minimize damage and improve road safety. Excessive daytime sleepiness is a major public health problem, leading to impaired cognitive function, reduced alertness, and increased risk of motor vehicle crashes. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of hypersomnolence (defined as an Epworth Sleepiness Scale score greater than 10) among truck drivers. Three hundred male truck drivers were studied. Quality of sleep was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the association between demographic, clinical, and occupational data with excessive sleepiness was analyzed. The mean daily sleep duration was 5.6+/-1.3 h, and poor quality of sleep was found in 46.3% of the individuals. Hypersomnolence was found in 46% of the drivers and was associated with younger age, snoring, and working >10 h without rest. A positive correlation between hypersomnolence and previous accidents was detected (p=0.005). These results show that sleep deprivation and hypersomnolence are frequent among truck drivers. The treatment of sleep-disordered breathing and the implementation of educational programs, particularly targeting younger drivers and promoting increased awareness of the deleterious effects of sleep loss and work overload, may help to reduce hypersomnolence and accidents among truck drivers.

Tiring job and work related injury road crashes in the GAZEL cohort

“…The causes of work related road crashes have been subjected to the largest amount of investigation in the case of professional drivers (Hakkaken and Summala, 2001;Philip, 2005;Sabbagh-Ehrlich et al, 2005;Tzamalouka, 2005;de Pinho et al, 2006) and the results have highlighted the influence of lack of sleep, overall workload (including work other than driving), fatigue, and chronic daytime sleepiness. To our knowledge, outside the transport sector, occupational stresses have rarely been studied as potential risk factors for road traffic injuries.…”

“…Few studies have considered the two types of work related road accidents (Harrison et al, 1993;Charbotel et al, 2001;Mitchell et al, 2004;McNoe et al, 2005;Boufous and Williamson, 2006;de Pinho et al, 2006). Three concern Australia, one New Zealand, and one France.…”

When Does Stress End? Evidence of a Prolonged Stress Reaction in Shiftworking Truck Drivers

“…Driving at night, in particular, and for extended hours has been shown to result in sleep deprivation, sleepiness, and increased risk of traffic accidents (Pinho et al, 2006), putting this population at a considerable health risk. Moreover, young subjects have been shown to be sleepier while driving at night compared to elderly subjects, increasing the risk of accidents (Lowden et al, 2009).…”

Robust evaluation of time since awakening using force platform posturography

“…Sleepiness and fatigue are responsible for a considerable proportion of traffi c accidents (Pinho et al, 2006;Noce et al, 2008;Williamson et al, 2014), particularly in truck and inter-city bus drivers, who must drive for long periods of time. It is thus an important traffi c safety issue to fi nd a robust, objective (as opposed to subjective reports such as the Stanford Sleepiness Scale) (Hoddes et al, 1973) and practical way to estimate the amount of time a person has been awake (time since awakening or TA).…”