TY - JOUR
T1 - Sleepy driver near-misses may predict accident risks
AU - Powell, Nelson B.
AU - Schechtman, Kenneth B.
AU - Riley, Robert W.
AU - Guilleminault, Christian
AU - Chiang, Rayleigh Ping Ying
AU - Weaver, Edward M.
PY - 2007/3/1
Y1 - 2007/3/1
N2 - Study Objectives: To quantify the prevalence of self-reported near-miss sleepy driving accidents and their association with self-reported actual driving accidents. Design: A prospective cross-sectional internet-linked survey on driving behaviors. Setting: Dateline NBC News website. Results: Results are given on 35,217 (88% of sample) individuals with a mean age of 37.2±13 years, 54.8% women, and 87% white. The risk of at least one accident increased monotonically from 23.2% if there were no near-miss sleepy accidents to 44.5% if there were ≥4 near-miss sleepy accidents (P<0.0001). After covariate adjustments, subjects who reported at least one near-miss sleepy accident were 1.13 (95% CI, 1.10 to 1.16) times as likely to have reported at least one actual accident as subjects reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents (P<0.0001). The odds of reporting at least one actual accident in those reporting ≥4 near-miss sleepy accidents as compared to those reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents was 1.87 (95% CI, 1.64 to 2.14). Furthermore, after adjustments, the summary Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score had an independent association with having a near-miss or actual accident. An increase of 1 unit of ESS was associated with a covariate adjusted 4.4% increase of having at least one accident (P< 0.0001). Conclusion: A statistically significant dose-response was seen between the numbers of self-reported sleepy near-miss accidents and an actual accident. These findings suggest that sleepy near-misses may be dangerous precursors to an actual accident.
AB - Study Objectives: To quantify the prevalence of self-reported near-miss sleepy driving accidents and their association with self-reported actual driving accidents. Design: A prospective cross-sectional internet-linked survey on driving behaviors. Setting: Dateline NBC News website. Results: Results are given on 35,217 (88% of sample) individuals with a mean age of 37.2±13 years, 54.8% women, and 87% white. The risk of at least one accident increased monotonically from 23.2% if there were no near-miss sleepy accidents to 44.5% if there were ≥4 near-miss sleepy accidents (P<0.0001). After covariate adjustments, subjects who reported at least one near-miss sleepy accident were 1.13 (95% CI, 1.10 to 1.16) times as likely to have reported at least one actual accident as subjects reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents (P<0.0001). The odds of reporting at least one actual accident in those reporting ≥4 near-miss sleepy accidents as compared to those reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents was 1.87 (95% CI, 1.64 to 2.14). Furthermore, after adjustments, the summary Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score had an independent association with having a near-miss or actual accident. An increase of 1 unit of ESS was associated with a covariate adjusted 4.4% increase of having at least one accident (P< 0.0001). Conclusion: A statistically significant dose-response was seen between the numbers of self-reported sleepy near-miss accidents and an actual accident. These findings suggest that sleepy near-misses may be dangerous precursors to an actual accident.
KW - Driving accidents
KW - Driving risks
KW - Epworth Sleepiness Scale
KW - Sleep disorders
KW - Sleepy driving
KW - Sleepy near-miss accidents
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33947654977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/sleep/30.3.331
DO - 10.1093/sleep/30.3.331
M3 - Article
C2 - 17425230
AN - SCOPUS:33947654977
SN - 0161-8105
VL - 30
SP - 331
EP - 342
JO - Sleep
JF - Sleep
IS - 3
ER -