Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Traffic Accidents Among Bus Drivers in Ecuador: is There a Significant Association

We conducted a cross-sectional study from September 2019 to January 2020 among 340 male professional bus drivers in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. To be included in the study, participants were required to be male, have an unexpired professional driver's license, as well as being currently enrolled at any local transformational company. Individuals who did not met the inclusion criteria, or who declined voluntary participation were excluded from the study. We screened 340 male professional bus drivers whose mean age was 44.3. We analyzed demographic and clinical variables including age, educational level, associated comorbidities (hypertension and diabetes), years as a professional driver, and number of accidents and near-accidents while working. Accidents were defined as a collision involving the vehicle in which the participant was the driver and another vehicle or stationary obstruction. Near-accidents were defined as unplanned events involving the driver that did not result in injury but had the potential to do so. We used STOP questionnaire to assess four questions related to snoring, tiredness during daytime, observed apnea, and high blood pressure (STOP), and the Bang aspect for screening BMI ≥ 35, age ≥ 50, neck circumference > 40 cm and male gender. Also, we used Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to assess excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).