A Test to Predict Dangerous Driving

A clinical test can predict poor driving due to sleepiness.

Sleepiness at the wheel is a major risk factor for traffic accidents. The Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) is the preferred measure for assessing the ability to stay awake in patients with disorders that induce excessive daytime sleepiness, such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). Researchers previously correlated MWT results with driving ability in a simulator. Now, investigators in France compare MWT results and road driving ability in 38 untreated subjects with OSA (36 men; mean age, 51) and in 14 healthy controls (13 men; mean age, 46).

The MWT involved video and sleep monitoring during four 40-minute trials. Subjects were instructed to sit still and remain awake for as long as possible, not looking at the only light source (…

Reviewing Author

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience