Sensitivity of driving simulation to sleep deprivation: effect of task duration

The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) is widely recognized as the gold standard for measuring vigilance, providing a rapid and objective measure of this state. While driving simulations are also used, they typically require longer administration times. This study examines the sensitivity of driving simulation variables to sleep deprivation throughout the task. The aim is to determine the shorter duration at which performance declines can be observed. A secondary goal is to compare driving simulation and PVT variables' sensitivity in detecting sleep deprivation.

Forty-three participants (22 males; aged 46.7 ± 17.8 years) completed a 90-minute driving simulation and a 10-minute PVT under two conditions (normal sleep and partial sleep deprivation of 3.5 hours). Signed-rank Wilcoxon tests and effect sizes were computed for variables from both tasks. Effect sizes were calculated for each 10-minute interval to assess sensitivity over time.

All the variables showed sensitivity to sleep deprivation. The largest effect sizes were observed in the driving simulation and specifically for the standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP) (r = 0.73) and the standard deviation of steering wheel movement (r = 0.73). A large effect size for the SDLP (r = 0.71) was observed after only 20 minutes of driving. For the 10-minute PVT, the highest effect size was observed for the number of lapses (r = 0.52).

Driving-related variables are highly sensitive to sleep deprivation while providing continuous performance measurements. The SDLP is a particularly sensitive variable even with a reduced driving time of 20 minutes, suggesting that driving simulation tasks can be effectively shortened to 20 minutes.