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High risk of obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, and daytime sleepiness among commercial motor vehicle drivers

  • Epidemiology • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated the prevalence of sleep problems, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), insomnia, and daytime sleepiness in commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers compared with that in the general population.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study comparing sleep habits and sleep problems in 110 truck drivers with 1001 matched controls from the general population. The assessment was based on self-administered questionnaires that included the Berlin questionnaire, the insomnia severity index, and the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). Multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine whether CMV drivers were independently associated with these sleep problems compared with controls.

Results

The prevalence of a high risk of OSA and insomnia was 35.5% and 15.2%, respectively, in CMV drivers, which was significantly higher than in controls with a prevalence of 12.2% and 4.1%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Although CMV drivers showed higher ESS scores than controls, the prevalence of daytime sleepiness did not differ between the two groups (19.1% vs. 16.8%, P = 0.54). After adjusting for covariates, CMV drivers had 3.68 times higher odds (95% CI 2.29–5.84) of OSA and 2.97 times higher odds (95% CI, 1.46–6.06) of insomnia compared with controls. However, the degree of daytime sleepiness was not independently associated with CMV drivers.

Conclusions

The prevalence of OSA and insomnia in CMV drivers was higher than that in the general population. Daytime sleepiness was associated with increased BMI, depression, OSA, and short sleep duration, regardless of CMV driving as an occupational factor.

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Funding

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Education (No. NRF-2017R1D1A1B04035931) and a grant from the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Jun-Sang Sunwoo

  2. Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan Hospital, 31 Soonchunhyang 6-gil, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, 31151, South Korea

    Dae-Seop Shin & Kwang Ik Yang

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, South Korea

    Young Hwangbo

  4. Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Won-Joo Kim

  5. Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Min Kyung Chu

  6. Department of Neurology, Bundang Clinical Neuroscience Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea

    Chang-Ho Yun

  7. Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute, Seoul, South Korea

    Taekyoung Jang

Authors
  1. Jun-Sang Sunwoo
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  2. Dae-Seop Shin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kwang Ik Yang.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Sunwoo, JS., Shin, DS., Hwangbo, Y. et al. High risk of obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, and daytime sleepiness among commercial motor vehicle drivers. Sleep Breath 23, 979–985 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-01805-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-01805-7

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