Underappreciation of sleep disorders as a cause of motor vehicle crashes

Despite an increased risk of motor vehicle crashes (MVC) in patients with o bstructive sleep apnea (OSA), we hypothesized that OSA was not considered i n drivers admitted to trauma centers after an injury-producing MVC. A retro spective study on drivers involved in MVCs admitted! to a level I trauma ce nter was performed, with crash cause determined and, the frequency of sleep studies recorded. A questionnaire was also! mailed to 240 trauma centers s eeking information on evaluation of patients with unexplained causes for MV Cs, including screening for OSA. There were 122 drivers of MVCs admitted to our hospital, 60/122 (49%) had unexplained crashes and no sleep studies we re performed. There! were 70 survey respondents (30% return rate), 35/70 (5 0%) centers routinely screened for syncope after unexplained MVC, however, no center screened for OSA. US trauma centers do not screen for sleep disor ders, despite the associated increased crash risk and the high prevalence o f crashes that can not be explained by other causes. We believe, this! refl ects a lack of awareness of sleep disorders by health care professionals ca ring for trauma victims and education is of utmost importance. Copyright (C ) 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company.