Excessive daytime sleepiness among Japanese public transportation drivers engaged in shiftwork.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the actual condition of sleep disorders underlying subjective excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) among train and bus drivers engaged in shiftwork.


METHODS
This study targeted 3109 public transportation drivers. Clinical diagnoses were made based on 147 drivers who claimed to have subjective EDS, and 285 drivers who were judged to have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), based on the screening process.


RESULTS
Among these subjects, the prevalence of OSAS was 3.7% and that of shiftwork disorder (SWD) was 1.5%. SWD was common among drivers who had EDS (32.7% of drivers with EDS), and their EDS severity was higher than that of OSAS drivers. The drivers with SWD were mostly young and neither obese nor hypertensive.


CONCLUSIONS
Encouraging awareness of SWD and OSAS could be necessary to prevent sleepiness-related accidents.
Asaoka
Shoichi
S
Department of Somnology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Namba
Kazuyoshi
K
Tsuiki
Satoru
S
Komada
Yoko
Y
Inoue
Yuichi
Y
D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance