Maintenance of Wakefulness Test scores and driving performance in sleep disorder patients and controls.
International Journal of Psychophysiology. 2013-08-01; 89(2): 195-202
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.05.013
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1. Int J Psychophysiol. 2013 Aug;89(2):195-202. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.05.013.
Epub 2013 May 28.
Maintenance of Wakefulness Test scores and driving performance in sleep disorder
patients and controls.
Philip P(1), Chaufton C, Taillard J, Sagaspe P, Léger D, Raimondi M, Vakulin A,
Capelli A.
Author information:
(1)Univ. de Bordeaux, Sommeil, Attention et Neuropsychiatrie, USR 3413, F-33000
Bordeaux, France; CNRS, SANPSY, USR 3413, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; CHU
Pellegrin, F-33076 Bordeaux, France.
OBJECTIVE: Sleepiness at the wheel is a risk factor for traffic accidents. Past
studies have demonstrated the validity of the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test
(MWT) scores as a predictor of driving impairment in untreated patients with
obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), but there is limited information on the
validity of the maintenance of wakefulness test by MWT in predicting driving
impairment in patients with hypersomnias of central origin (narcolepsy or
idiopathic hypersomnia). The aim of this study was to compare the MWT scores with
driving performance in sleep disorder patients and controls.
METHODS: 19 patients suffering from hypersomnias of central origin (9
narcoleptics and 10 idiopathic hypersomnia), 17 OSAS patients and 14 healthy
controls performed a MWT (4×40-minute trials) and a 40-minute driving session on
a real car driving simulator. Participants were divided into 4 groups defined by
their MWT sleep latency scores. The groups were pathological (sleep latency 0-19
min), intermediate (20-33 min), alert (34-40 min) and control (>34 min). The main
driving performance outcome was the number of inappropriate line crossings (ILCs)
during the 40 minute drive test.
RESULTS: Patients with pathological MWT sleep latency scores (0-19 min) displayed
statistically significantly more ILC than patients from the intermediate, alert
and control groups (F (3, 46)=7.47, p