Sleepiness while driving a sign of OSA, study suggests

People who regularly use one or more coping strategies to stay awake while driving are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) compared with those who don't use such coping strategies, new research has shown.

Investigators from St James University Hospital in Leeds, England, analysed data on 119 participants with an Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS) of > 10 who were being considered for a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) trial or who drove regularly.

A total of 105 healthy volunteers with an ESS score of < 10 with no symptoms of OSA were recruited as controls. All participants completed questionnaires about how sleepiness affected their driving.

Participants with OSA were more likely to feel sleepy while driving than controls (P = .0002). Participants with OSA were significantly more likely than controls to use at least one coping strategy "frequently" vs control participants (43.7% vs 10.5%; P ≤ .0001). Strategies included rolling down the window, drinking tea or coffee or listening to music at a high volume.

Participants with OSA were significantly more likely to have either reported an accident or have been involved in an accident irrespective of any insurance claims in the last year than controls (16.8% vs 2.85%; P ≤ .0013).

The study was published recently in European Respiratory Journal Open Research.