Sleep Apnea Increases Risk of Traffic Accidents
Sleep Apnea Increases Risk of Traffic Accidents – New research shows that sleep apnea patients are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents than others.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where breathing stops and starts, and is usually accompanied by loud snoring and gasping. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), almost 25 million Americans suffer from a common form of sleep apnea called obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when throat muscles relax. The other type of sleep apnea is called central sleep apnea, where the brain does not send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.
People with sleep apnea tend to get interrupted sleep, and as a result, tend to be tired and sleepy during the day – a factor that can impair their driving skills.
Treatment for sleep apnea involves using a special contraption to stop the throat closing during sleep, known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. A small pump, continuously delivers compressed air through a mask covering the nose or both the nose and mouth.
For the study, researchers from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, used data from the Swedish Traffic Accident Registry (STRADA), and compared rates of traffic accidents among 1,478 sleep apnea patients and 635,786 other who did not have the condition.
After reviewing data for over 10 years, researchers found that sleep apnea patients were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be the driver in a motor vehicle accident, compared with drivers in the general population.
Factors that raised the risk of accidents included severe daytime sleepiness, sleeping less than 5 hours a night or use of sleeping pills. The study also showed that patients who used the CPAP therapy for 4 hours a night were 70% less likely to be involved in driving accidents.
According to the lead researcher, Ludger Grote, traffic accident risk can be minimized if sleep apnea patients used the CPAP treatment adequately.
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