Sleep, sleepiness and motor vehicle accidents: a national survey

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2005.tb00742.xGet rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the role of sleep‐related factors, ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation in self‐reported motor vehicle accidents while driving, after controlling for gender, age and driving exposure.

Methods: Mail survey to a random electoral roll sample of 10,000 people aged 30–60 years, stratified by age decades and ethnicity (71% response rate). The analytical sample included 5,534 current drivers (21.6% Maori men, 21.2% Maori women, 30% non‐Maori men, 27.2% non‐Maori women).

Results:

Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed the following independent risk factors for accident involvement while driving (last three years): being younger; higher average weekly driving hours; never/rarely getting enough sleep (OR= 1.26, 95% Cl 1.06‐1.49); reporting any chance of dozing in a car while stopped in traffic (Epworth Sleepiness Scale question 8, OR=1.52, 95% Cl 1.15‐2.02); and among women, being non‐Maori. Total Epworth score was not significantly related to reported accident involvement.

Conclusions:

Chronic sleep restriction, and any likelihood of dozing off at the wheel of a motor vehicle, were significant independent predictors of self‐reported involvement in all types of motor vehicle accidents, not only those identified as fatigue‐related. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale alone is not a reliable clinical tool for identifying individuals at higher risk of crashes.

Implications:

Factors relating to chronic sleepiness were as important as established demographic risk factors for self‐reported motor vehicle accident involvement among 30–60 year‐old drivers. The findings reinforce the need for multi‐faceted campaigns to reduce sleepy driving.

Cited by (0)