A January 2024 study by St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, said,
“Up to one fifth of collisions on the road may be caused by fatigue or sleepiness. Many obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients drive either for personal or for professional reasons and there is good evidence to suggest that some patients are at increased risk of collisions on the road.”
“Doctors are often asked to make recommendations about their patient’s fitness to drive. This can be challenging as it can have major implications on a patient’s livelihood, particularly if they are a professional driver. However, there is a duty of care on doctors to discourage patients from driving if are at high risk of causing a collision.”
“Our research suggests that untreated OSA patients often use coping strategies that could be surrogate markers of sleepiness. Asking about these strategies in the clinic may help doctors identifying patients who are at risk of driving incidents and to advise appropriately.”
“Obstructive sleep apnoea is of high public health relevance due to its high prevalence, symptoms that impair quality of life and potential cardiovascular consequences. In addition to choking, fragmented sleep and unrefreshing sleep, possible symptoms include difficulty concentrating, tiredness and a tendency to fall asleep during the day. Fortunately, awareness of OSA has increased somewhat in recent years. Today, treatment recommendations are based on the different risk factors, symptom groups and cardiovascular consequences of certain OSA types. Various treatment approaches geared to different types of OSA can be offered to successfully treat the symptoms, including daytime sleepiness.”