@article{ref1,
title="Obstructive sleep apnea risk for driving license applicants in India - a community based study",
journal="International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health",
year="2017",
author="Dubey, Abhishek and Bajaj, Darshan K. and Mishra, Apurva and Singh, Balendra Pratap and Gupta, Vinay and Kant, Surya and Dixit, Swati",
volume="31",
number="1",
pages="25-36",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for male permanent driving license (DL) applicants of Lucknow, India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional community based, study body mass index, waist-hip ratio, blood pressure of each subject were determined as an anthropometric parameter along with the history of habit of smoking, tobacco chewing, alcohol consumption. STOP-Bang (Snoring, Tired or sleepy, Observed apnea, high blood Pressure, Body mass index, Age, Neck, Gender) Questionnaire - a scoring risk assessment tool - was applied for assessment of OSA risk (high OSA risk defined by score ≥ 3) for 542 male DL recipients at 2 Regional Transport Office (RTO) centers in Lucknow, India. The statistical software SPSS 17.0 was applied to the testing. <br><br>RESULTS: In total 23% (N = 125) of participants were found with the risk of OSA. High blood pressure (≥ 140/90 mm Hg) was found for the maximum number of participants (40.5%) followed by neck circumference > 40 cm (17.1%), age (> 50 years old) (15.3%), snoring (12.3%) and tired/sleepy (10.5%). Mean values of age, anthropometric measurements and blood pressure were observed significantly higher (p < 0.001) for participants with the OSA risk. In this population the risk of OSA risk (STOP-Bang score ≥ 3) was observed for 6.7% of young (< 35 years old), 34% of middle (35-45 years old) and 73% of elder age adults (> 45 years old). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: In view of findings of this study a high number of male driving license applicants were observed with the risk of OSA. Therefore efforts should be made to develop a national screening guideline/protocol for the OSA risk assessment for driving license applicants in India. This may reduce the possibility of road traffic accidents due to the OSA-associated fatigue and drowsiness behind the wheels. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(1).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1232-1087",
doi="10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01021",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01021"
}