Revisión bibliográfica exploratoria sobre síndrome de apnea obstructiva del sueño y conducción profesional

Abstract

The sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome is the most common respiratory disorders that occur during sleep, affecting about 4% of adults, and nearly 2 million people in Spain. It occurs with repeated episodes of upper airway obstruction causing a flow of air collapse into the lungs and symptoms such as daytime sleepiness, respiratory, cardiovascular, psychological and intellectual disorders. Sleepiness while driving is common among professional drivers, affecting their performance and safety of the population. It was conducted an exploratory literature review to determine: the prevalence of the disease in professional drivers, the risk factors involved, the methods used in diagnosis and its relation with traffic accidents. There were selected nine databases, PubMed, IBECS, LILACS, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Scopus, SciELO, WOS and WOK, to carry out the research between October 2011 and January 2012. After applying the criteria of inclusion / exclusion 12 articles were analyzed. The prevalence of the syndrome is similar in most studies but higher than general population. The most significant Risk factors and its impact were obesity, excessive sleepiness, snoring. There is no consensus among the diagnostic tests used and their effectiveness. However the most used is the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). The relationship between job accidents and sleep apnea has been not studied a lot in professional drivers.