[Driving simulators in risk assessment of traffic accident among drivers with obstructive sleep apnea].

Sleep disorders in the form of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are still underdiagnosed and insufficiently treated in drivers. This is a very important problem, because chronic sleepiness during the day and episodes of sleep during driving a road vehicle are now regarded as one of the main causes of traffic accidents, including fatal ones, caused by professional drivers. For many years driver fatigue has been considered a major risk factor of traffic accidents, while obstructive sleep apnea has remained almost completely disregarded. In the late 1980s and early 1990s epidemiological data began to indicate sleepiness and sleep deficit as the cause of up to 20% of road accidents. Later studies conducted in many countries in different groups of drivers have confirmed that people with breathing problems during sleep are much more likely to cause accidents than healthy ones. These accidents often result from sleep disorders experienced by drivers while driving, during both long monotonous journeys and in heavy urban traffic. The application of treatment involving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) reduces the rate of accidents among drivers. In the recent years, the studies of this problem has been expanded by the use of drive simulators that quite accurately simulate real driving conditions. This approach allows to assess the driver's reactions and behaviors in different situations on the road, including the most dangerous ones. By comparing the results from the simulator with those in real conditions it will be possible to see to what extent the risk of accident in simulated conditions correlates with the risk of accident in real life settings.

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