Citation

Shiomi T, Arita AT, Sasanabe R, Banno K, Yamakawa H, Hasegawa R, Ozeki K, Okada M, Ito A. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2002; 56(3): 333-334.

Affiliation

Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Japan. toshiaki@amugw.aichi-med-u.ac.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12047620

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).

Language: en