title: The relationship between driving simulation performance and obstructive sleep apnoea risk, daytime sleepiness, obesity and road traffic accident history of commercial drivers in Turkey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Driving performance is known to be very sensitive to cognitive-psychomotor impairment. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between obesity, risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), daytime sleepiness, history of road traffic accident (RTA) and performance on a driving simulator, among commercial drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined commercial vehicle drivers admitted to Psycho-Technical Assessment System (PTAS), which is a computer-aided system that includes a driving simulator test and tests assessing psychomotor-cognitive skills required for driving. Risk of OSA and daytime sleepiness were assessed by the Berlin Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 282 commercial vehicle drivers were consecutively enrolled. The age range was 29-76 years. Thirty drivers were at high risk of OSA. Median ESS of the group was 2 (0-20). Forty-seven percent of the subjects at high risk of OSA failed in early reaction time test, while 28% of the drivers with low risk of OSA failed (p = 0.03). The obese drivers failed the peripheral vision test when compared with non-obese drivers (p = 0.02). ESS was higher for drivers with a history of RTA when compared to those without RTA (p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cognitive-psychomotor functions can be impaired in obese and high risk of OSA patients. In our opinion, requiring obese and/or high risk of OSA drivers to take PTAS tests that assess driving skills and psychomotor-cognitive functions crucial to those skills would significantly improve road traffic safety, which is of considerable importance to public health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, 16059, Bursa, Turkey, demirdogenezgi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ezgi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Demirdöğen Çetinoğlu
authors.forename: Aslı
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Görek Dilektaşlı
authors.forename: Nefise Ateş
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Güven
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Özkaya
authors.forename: Nilüfer Aylin
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Acet
authors.forename: Eda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durmuş
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ursavaş
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karadağ
authors.forename: Ercüment
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ege
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014421:Turkey