title: Sleep Apnea and Driving. Recommendations for Interpreting Spanish Regulations for Drivers.
abstract: Road traffic accidents are one of the main causes of death worldwide and are clearly associated with sleepiness. Individuals with undiagnosed sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) are among the population with a high risk of experiencing sleepiness at the wheel and, consequently, road traffic accidents. Treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been shown to reduce the risk of accidents among drivers with SAHS. For this reason, the European Union has included this disease in the psychological and physical criteria for obtaining or renewing a driving license. To comply with this European Directive, Spain has updated its driving laws accordingly. To facilitate the implementation of the new regulations, a group of experts from various medical societies and institutions has prepared these guidelines that include questionnaires to screen for SAHS, diagnostic and therapeutic criteria, and physician's report templates.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Sueño, Hospital Universitario de Burgos. CIBERES, Burgos, España. Electronic address: joaquinteransantos@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Terán-Santos
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Sueño, Hospital Txagorritxu. CIBERES, Vitoria/Gasteiz, España.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Egea Santaolalla
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neumología, Unidad de Sueño, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. CIBERES, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Jose María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Montserrat
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neumología, Unidad de Sueño, Hospital San Pedro de Alcántara. CIBERES, Cáceres, España.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Masa Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, España.
authors.forename: Maria Villar
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Librada Escribano
authors.affiliation: Sociedad Española de Medicina de Tráfico, España.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mirabet
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Programas de Aptitud Psicofísica. Subdirección General de Políticas Viales. Dirección General de Tráfico, España.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Valdés Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D017286:Polysomnography; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Accidentes; Accidents; Apnea del sueño; Conducción; Driving; Sleep apnea; Sleepiness; Somnolencia