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The mean age of the participants was 44 years; 77 percent were men. As compared with those without sleep apnea, patients with an apnea- hypopnea index of 10 or higher had an odds ratio of 6.3(95 percent confidence interval,2.4 to 16.2) for having a traffic accident. This relation remained significant after adjustment for potential confounders, such as alcohol consumption, visual-refraction disorders, body-mass index, years of driving, age, history with respect to traffic accidents, use of medications causing drowsiness, and sleep schedule. Among subjects with an apnea-hypopnea index of 10 or more, the risk of an accident was higher among those who had consumed alcohol on the day of the accident than among those who had not. There is a strong association between sleep apnea, as measured by the apnea- hypopnea index, and the risk of traffic accidents. |
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