title: Psychomotor vigilance testing of professional drivers in the occupational health clinic: a potential objective screen for daytime sleepiness.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Chunbai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Vasileia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Varvarigou
authors.forename: Philip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.forename: Shiva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.forename: Antonio Vela
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Bueno
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Stefanos N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Kales
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000379:methods; D010808:Physical Examination; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*