Falling asleep while driving and automobile accidents among patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome |
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Authors: | Shiomi Toshiaki Arita Aki Taniguchi Sasanabe Ryujiro Banno Katsuhisa Yamakawa Hiroki Hasegawa Rika Ozeki Kaori Okada Maki Ito Asao |
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Affiliation: | Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Japan. toshiaki@amugw.aichi-med-u.ac.jp |
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Abstract: | 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). |
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Keywords: | automobile accident Epworth sleepiness scale obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome |
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