Obstructive sleep apnea among express bus drivers in Malaysia: important indicators for screening.
OBJECTIVE
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been identified as one of the significant risk factors for motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). In the interest of public safety, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of OSA and its associated factors among express bus drivers in Malaysia. Identifying factors or conditions related with OSA is very important because they can be used as indicators to subject a person to a confirmatory diagnosis using polysomnography testing.


METHODS
Two hundred eighty-nine randomly selected express bus drivers from 5 express bus companies participated in the study. Information on demography, medical history, clinical symptoms, and signs of OSA were collected by a designated medical officer and the diagnosis of OSA was done based on the Apnea Hypopnoea Index (AHI) from polysomnography testing.


RESULTS
Based on AHI, 128 (44.3%) subjects were diagnosed as having OSA with 83 (28.7%), 26 (9.0%), and 26 (6.6%) classified as mild, moderate, and severe OSA, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis results showed that age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.09), snoring (OR = 3.54, 95% CI 1.91-6.57), body mass index (BMI; OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.09-1.25), hypertension (OR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.02-3.40), and neck circumference (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.18-1.46) were significantly associated with OSA status.


CONCLUSIONS
The results supported the need for identifying the risk group for OSA among express bus drivers and the need to diagnose them early for an early intervention.
Pre & Post Injury Research Unit, Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Research Centre, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, Kajang, Malaysia. fadhli.yusoff@gmail.com
M Fadhli Mohd
MF
Yusoff
Marina Mat
MM
Baki
Norlen
N
Mohamed
A Sani
AS
Mohamed
M Razif Mohamad
MR
Yunus
Mazita
M
Ami
Ilhamah
I
Othman
Azlan I
AI
Ishak
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001334:Automobile Driving; D015992:Body Mass Index; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012913:Snoring / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult