Psychomotor vigilance testing of professional drivers in the occupational health clinic: a potential objective screen for daytime sleepiness

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bueno AV ; Gautam S ; Kales SN ; Malhotra A ; Parks PD ; Varvarigou V ; Zhang C
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE: Psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT) rapidly assesses attention, reaction time (RT), and abnormal vigilance. Thus, PVT may be an adjunct to screening drivers for high-risk obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)/excess daytime sleepiness (EDS). METHODS: Commercial drivers and emergency responders undergoing occupational examinations took a 10-minute PVT and were instructed to achieve their fastest possible RTs. Participants with maximum RT >5 seconds or = 2 "super lapses" (RT = 1000 ms) were categorized as "microsleepers." RESULTS: Among 193 male participants, the 15 microsleepers (8%) were significantly more obese, but not different on age or Epworth Sleepiness Score. Time of day had no effect on RT. CONCLUSION: PVT is suitable to occupational clinics and can identify otherwise unrecognized, impaired vigilance. Further studies must validate the PVT abnormalities most predictive of OSA/EDS and vehicular crashes, compared to adiposity measures alone. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Automobiles Men Occupational Health Safety Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Women
• Keywords:
  Age-groups Drivers Humans Physical-examination Physiology Psychomotor-function Sleep-disorders Weight-factors
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  296-302
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041190
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2012 Mar; 54(3):296-302
• Contact Point Address:
  Stefanos N. Kales,MD,MPH, The Cambridge Health Alliance, Employee & Industrial Medicine, 1493 Cambridge Street, Macht Building, Suite 427, Cambridge, MA 02139
• Email:
  skales@challiance.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d3004b526cf235a65d5f9a56e8b26885a26ff0a016dcba7fb9c892fa06f1fd80dfb69c10646e5671f273dd0f8fcab840a0569c4874f080ce102491acff14b47a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193800/cdc_193800_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 222.11 KB ]