Understanding the role of sleep quality and sleep duration in commercial driving safety

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention 2016-12, Vol.97, p.79-86
• Main Authors: Lemke, Michael K., Apostolopoulos, Yorghos, Hege, Adam, Sönmez, Sevil, Wideman, Laurie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents; Accidents, Traffic - prevention & control; Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data; Adult; Attention; Automobile Driving - statistics & numerical data; Commercial drivers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Driver fatigue; Drivers; Fatigue - epidemiology; Fatigue, Human; Humans; Motor Vehicles - statistics & numerical data; Organizations; Risk; Sleep; Sleep duration; Sleep quality; Sleep Stages; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Trucks; United States; Work Performance - statistics & numerical data; Work Schedule Tolerance
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2016.08.024

•Drivers report frequently operating motor vehicles while sleepy.•Sleepiness is frequently cited by drivers as an important factor in safety outcomes.•Sleep quality is better associated with driving while sleepy than sleep duration.•Sleep quality is better associated than duration with job performance/concentration.•Sleep duration is better associated with accidents/accident risk than sleep quality. Long-haul truck drivers in the United States suffer disproportionately high injury rates. Sleep is a critical factor in these outcomes, contributing to fatigue and degrading multiple aspects of safety-relevant performance. Both sleep duration and sleep quality are often compromised among truck drivers; however, much of the efforts to combat fatigue focus on sleep duration rather than sleep quality. Thus, the current study has two objectives: (1) to determine the degree to which sleep impacts safety-relevant performance among long-haul truck drivers; and (2) to evaluate workday and non-workday sleep quality and duration as predictors of drivers’ safety-relevant performance. A non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional design was employed to collect survey and biometric data from 260 long-haul truck drivers. The Trucker Sleep Disorders Survey was developed to assess sleep duration and quality, the impact of sleep on job performance and accident risk, and other relevant work organization characteristics. Descriptive statistics assessed work organization variables, sleep duration and quality, and frequency of engaging in safety-relevant performance while sleepy. Linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate relationships between sleep duration, sleep quality, and work organization variables with safety composite variables. Drivers reported long work hours, with over 70% of drivers working more than 11h daily. Drivers also reported a large number of miles driven per week, with an average of 2,812.61 miles per week, and frequent violations of hours-of-service rules, with 43.8% of drivers “sometimes to always” violating the “14-h rule.” Sleep duration was longer, and sleep quality was better, on non-workdays compared on workdays. Drivers frequently operated motor vehicles while sleepy, and sleepiness impacted several aspects of safety-relevant performance. Sleep quality was better associated with driving while sleepy and with job performance and concentration than sleep duration. Sleep duration was better associated with accidents and accident risk than sl