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Booze, Driving and Sleep Apnea
news release announced by the American Thoracic Society:
Newswise — Patients with undiagnosed or untreated obstructive sleep apnea are especially vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation and even legal doses of alcohol when it comes to lowered driving performance and increased risk of vehicular accidents, according to new research to be announced on May 19 at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference in San Diego.
Andrew Vakulin, a Ph.D. candidate at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, and colleagues investigated the effects of sleep restriction and moderate alcohol exposure on patients with OSA with respect to their performance on a simulated driving task.
Driver sleepiness is already known to contribute to about one in three car accidents, and OSA patients are known to be at greater risk. However, the extent to which OSA exacerbates the effects of normal sleepiness or alcohol consumption on driving ability was not previously known.
“We found that patients with OSA had a significantly poorer performance than their peers without OSA on the driving task after sleep restriction or alcohol exposure, even though the alcohol dose was clearly within the limits imposed by most state laws—about equal to having two drinks for a woman or three for a man over the course of an hour,” said Mr. Vakulin.
Patients with OSA were recruited following a standard diagnostic sleep study at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health prior to commencement of treatment. Healthy volunteers were randomly recruited from the community through newspaper advertisements and were matched by age and sex to the patient group. There were a total of 38 OSA patients and 20 healthy individuals tested.
All subjects completed a 90-minute mid-afternoon simulated driving course after normal sleep (about eight hours), sleep restriction (about four hours) and consumption of alcohol (to blood alcohol levels of approximately 0.05g/dL). The road course simulated a country night-time drive on a predominantly straight dual-lane road with bends occurring at 10 minute intervals, each taking approximately 30 seconds to negotiate. There was no oncoming traffic or traffic lights.
After sleep restriction, individuals with OSA performed significantly more poorly on steering than the 20 healthy individuals. Subjects with OSA were also more likely to crash than control subjects after undergoing both sleep restriction and alcohol exposure.
“While this research could only ethically examine driving performance in a simulated setting, it raises some red flags that have strong real-world implications,” said Mr. Vakulin. “In OSA patients, microsleeps [brief episodes of sleep] and prolonged eye closures (greater than two seconds) were significant predictors of having a crash incidents with adjusted odds ratios of 19.2 and 7.2, respectively.
“Clearly this data indicates that people with suspected or untreated sleep apnea should avoid driving if they have not had a full night’s sleep, and should avoid driving after consuming even a small amount of alcohol,” said Mr. Vakulin.
Newswise — Patients with undiagnosed or untreated obstructive sleep apnea are especially vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation and even legal doses of alcohol when it comes to lowered driving performance and increased risk of vehicular accidents, according to new research to be announced on May 19 at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference in San Diego.
Andrew Vakulin, a Ph.D. candidate at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, and colleagues investigated the effects of sleep restriction and moderate alcohol exposure on patients with OSA with respect to their performance on a simulated driving task.
Driver sleepiness is already known to contribute to about one in three car accidents, and OSA patients are known to be at greater risk. However, the extent to which OSA exacerbates the effects of normal sleepiness or alcohol consumption on driving ability was not previously known.
“We found that patients with OSA had a significantly poorer performance than their peers without OSA on the driving task after sleep restriction or alcohol exposure, even though the alcohol dose was clearly within the limits imposed by most state laws—about equal to having two drinks for a woman or three for a man over the course of an hour,” said Mr. Vakulin.
Patients with OSA were recruited following a standard diagnostic sleep study at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health prior to commencement of treatment. Healthy volunteers were randomly recruited from the community through newspaper advertisements and were matched by age and sex to the patient group. There were a total of 38 OSA patients and 20 healthy individuals tested.
All subjects completed a 90-minute mid-afternoon simulated driving course after normal sleep (about eight hours), sleep restriction (about four hours) and consumption of alcohol (to blood alcohol levels of approximately 0.05g/dL). The road course simulated a country night-time drive on a predominantly straight dual-lane road with bends occurring at 10 minute intervals, each taking approximately 30 seconds to negotiate. There was no oncoming traffic or traffic lights.
After sleep restriction, individuals with OSA performed significantly more poorly on steering than the 20 healthy individuals. Subjects with OSA were also more likely to crash than control subjects after undergoing both sleep restriction and alcohol exposure.
“While this research could only ethically examine driving performance in a simulated setting, it raises some red flags that have strong real-world implications,” said Mr. Vakulin. “In OSA patients, microsleeps [brief episodes of sleep] and prolonged eye closures (greater than two seconds) were significant predictors of having a crash incidents with adjusted odds ratios of 19.2 and 7.2, respectively.
“Clearly this data indicates that people with suspected or untreated sleep apnea should avoid driving if they have not had a full night’s sleep, and should avoid driving after consuming even a small amount of alcohol,” said Mr. Vakulin.
Views: 53
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by amott1973 on
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I'm with them on the no "driving after even a small amount of alcohol" part. I am highly affected by alcohol, rarely drink and never drive if I do.
But I admit I had to giggle at "people with suspected or untreated sleep apnea should avoid driving if they have not had a full night's sleep" since by definition someone with untreated sleep apnea doesn't get a full nights sleep ever. Not really practical. But this is another article I'm sending to my mom! I keep thinking if I send her enough stuff she'll get compliant. Probably not, but I still try.
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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maybe send her the link to the tune and lyrics of the CPAP song, so that she knows that it's not the end of the world to suck it up and get this treatment. some people kind of like it :-)
amott1973 said:I'm with them on the no "driving after even a small amount of alcohol" part. I am highly affected by alcohol, rarely drink and never drive if I do.
But I admit I had to giggle at "people with suspected or untreated sleep apnea should avoid driving if they have not had a full night's sleep" since by definition someone with untreated sleep apnea doesn't get a full nights sleep ever. Not really practical. But this is another article I'm sending to my mom! I keep thinking if I send her enough stuff she'll get compliant. Probably not, but I still try.
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Permalink Reply by Nat Pike on
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This doesn't surprise me. I don't drink at all, because, well, everyone gets their share of alcohol in life, and I went waaaaay over mine and stopped years ago. But I didn't treat my apnea until well after I quit drinking. After the difference in my level of consciousness from apnea treatment, it's amazing to me that I didn't just slump over dead back when I drank. :P
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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Had a little girl die in my arms due to drunk driving when I was 15 years old. Other guy walked away without a scratch. Never once have I gotten into a car after drinking.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on
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It is such a sheer “delight” to stand and see the destruction an impaired driver can cause to so many innocent lives. These persons have absolutely no respect for anyone or anything.
Rock, I have been in that position to many times. It is an image to which you never erase and which you pray you never have to experience again. The victims, young or old, of the stupidity are forever burned into your mind.
In most states, the laws for driving under the influence, whether alcohol, drugs, or both, read “drive or operate a motor vehicle upon a highway while under the influence.” Nowhere in that portion do you see a blood/alcohol level. The blood/alcohol level to which most states set as a benchmark, are just that, a benchmark. The key phrase is “under the influence”.
Reckless Driving, by definition, is the “willful and wanton disregard for life and property.”
Many things affect the effects of alcohol. A person’s size and tolerance to ETOH, prescription medications, and sleep, just to name a few. Any and all can add up to influence.
Getting behind the wheel of a vehicle even while sleepy can constitute reckless driving. A person suffering from untreated sleep apnea is technically guilty of “willful and wanton disregard to life and property.”
It is almost an everyday occurrence in which a driver who falls asleep behind the wheel or controls of a vehicle inflicts damage to someone’s life.
Almost every person, who has a driver’s license and who has been diagnosed and then subsequently treated, successfully, has been guilty of disregarding life and property. The majority have just been lucky, but what about those that weren’t?
What a person needs to remember is that vehicle to which they sit themselves behind the wheel of, is a 2-ton weapon, no different than a gun. The destruction to life is nonetheless.
In this country, the lawmakers have tried for years to legislate morals without success. The problem is they can’t outlaw stupidity and it seems to be running rampant.
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