Frequency of obstructive sleep apnoea in Danish truck drivers

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness and therefore affects traffic safety. The risk factors for OSA are age and BMI, and therefore sedentary occupational groups are likely to have a high prevalence of OSA. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and identify the risk factors for OSA and Type 2 diabetes (T2D) among occupational truck drivers in Denmark.

Occupational truck drivers were recruited and their pulse oximetry and nasal respiratory flow were measured with the ApneaLink device. The Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI), defined as the average number of apnoeas and hypopnoeas per hour of sleep, was used to classify 1) non OSA (AHI less-than 5/h), 2) mild OSA (5/h ≤ AHI less-than 15/h), 3) moderate OSA (15/h ≤ AHI ≤ 30/h) and 4) severe OSA (AHI > 30/h). Risk factors for OSA and T2D were investigated by linear and logistic regressions.

A total of 57 of 97 drivers were included in the analysis, all of whom were men, and 56% had OSA. The linear regressions showed all of the evaluated risk factors to be positively associated (less-than 0.01) with the AHI score, supported by the estimated odds ratios of having above-recommended levels of the evaluated risk factors when classified as having OSA.

All the evaluated risk factors were significantly associated with AHI, and the prevalence of OSA was above mean levels in the population. Confirmation of these results is warranted in future studies.

This study was supported by unrestricted grants from The FDE foundation, The Danish Council for Safe Traffic and Nordsjaellands Hospital.

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