I thought that this article might be of interest.
Currently, in Ireland, and I am convinced in most European countries there is a big 'push' (by the medical profession) to introduce some form of screening for sleep apnoea, with particular emphasis on driving. While I would agree with it in principle there is a great danger that sleep apnoea would be driven 'underground', as those undiagnosed sufferers with EDS (Excessive Daytime Sleepiness) may become more reluctant to come forward (for diagnosis).

Anyone with anything to say ? Very interested in any comments.

Daniel


Driving simulator may predict accidents in sleep apnea patients
Nov 10, 2005 - Patients with sleep apnea may suffer from daytime sleepiness and therefore be at increased risk of road accidents, say German clinicians, who have found that a driving simulator could allow easy objective assessment of this risk.

Writing in the European Respiratory Journal, Maritta Orth and co-authors (University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum) explain that investigations into accident frequencies are typically based on case histories, insurance reports, and driving simulator studies.

In contrast, they note that the current study combines neuropsychological testing of different attention aspects engaged in driving a car and driving simulation to evaluate a suitable instrument for assessing therapeutic effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Thirty-one patients with polysomnographically confirmed obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) underwent driving simulation tests and neuropsychological testing of alertness, vigilance, and divided attention before and 2 and 42 days after the initiation of CPAP. The driving simulator entailed monotonous driving conditions for 60 minutes at an average virtual speed of 100 km/hr in a variety of weather conditions.

The findings showed that both divided attention and alertness improved significantly following treatment for OSAS.

Specifically, untreated patients experienced an average of 2.7 “accidents� – collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians, as well as a further 12.4 lapses of concentration. In contrast, the accident rate fell to an average of 1.5 after just 2 days CPAP treatment and 0.92 after 42 days of CPAP.

The study also demonstrated the ineffectiveness of neuropsychological tests or polysomnographic testing to predict accident risk, with no correlation found between these parameters and driving performance.

Based on these findings, the authors conclude: “The present results suggest that driving simulation is a possible benchmark parameter of driving performance in OSAS patients.�

Eur Respir J 2005; 26: 898–903
Free abstract


_________________
The untreated Sleep Apnoea sufferer died quietly in his sleep.......
Unlike his three passengers who died screaming !!!!!!

(Anon)

in australia its accepted that undiagnosed sleep apnea is responsible for many car crashes and the government has given money to help get more apnea sufferers diagnosed and treated
During my many years of undiagnosed apnea I was often desperately tired when driving but fortunately I have a built in panic alarm and whenever I started to feel sleepy this shocked me and I immediately parked the car safely and had a sleep

Unfortunately for me, I went off the road 3 times before being diagnosed.  One time I ruined my car so badly, it cost me a few thousand (actually I paid my deductible..insurance paid the rest).  
1.  I'm lucky my wife and 2 children were not in the car with me
2.  At least i went off to the right of the road, where I hit a guardrail and signpost...didn't hurt anyone (thank god)
3.  CPAP has helped tremendously with my driving problems. I still need Provigil, though. since I'm still sleep deprived.