Driving ability in sleep apnoea patients before and after CPAP treatment evaluation on a road safety platform

¹ HP2 laboratory, Inserm Espri, EA 3745, Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France; and Sleep Laboratory, EFCR, Grenoble University Hospital, France
² Agiradom, Meylan, 38, France
³ Minotaure Road platform, Voreppe, France

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: smazza{at}wanadoo.fr.

	Abstract

Sleepiness is considered as the first cause of increased traffic accidents in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Until now, OSAS patients' driving abilities have been assessed using driving simulators, however, no assessment in a more natural driving environment has been done.

To evaluate driving parameters in OSAS and controls, on a road safety platform. Compare them with attentional in-laboratory measures, before and after CPAP treatment.

We measured reaction time (RT), distance to stop and number of collisions on the platform, maintenance of wakefulness, sustained, selective and divided attention in laboratory.

Patients exhibited much longer RT than controls, leading to a lengthening of the vehicle's stopping distance of 8.8 meters at 40 km·h^-1 and to twice more collisions. Patients did not demonstrate objective sleepiness or selective and sustained attention deficits. Divided attention deficits were found. However, they did not allow the prediction of real driving impairment. After treatment, there was no longer any difference between patients and controls regarding driving and attention performances.

Driving abilities are significantly impaired in OSAS. After treatment, deficits were normalized. This stress the importance of evaluating attentional parameters in apnoeic patients and of offering CPAP treatment even to non-sleepy subjects.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J F Guest, M T Helter, A Morga, and J R Stradling Cost-effectiveness of using continuous positive airway pressure in the treatment of severe obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome in the UK Thorax, October 1, 2008; 63(10): 860 - 865. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]