Sleep quality of drivers: a study based on self-perceived and sleep companions feedback

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, Tatiana Donai
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/19703
• topic: Sleep disorders; Excessive daytime sleepiness; Self-perceived sleep; Drivers sleep

Sleep is a crucial biological need for all individuals, being reparative on a physical and mental level. Driving heavy vehicles is a task that requires constant attention and vigilance, and sleep deprivation leads to behavioral and physiological changes that can develop sleep disorders that can put lives at risk. The main objective of this study is to analyse he sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, circadian preference, and risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea in a population of portuguese of drivers. I tis also of interest to analyse and compare the ansewers given by the drivers companions to the complementary questionnaire of the Pittsburgh Sleep Index, in order to better understand self-perceived sleep. To fulfill the mentioned objectives, the flowing validated and translated to Portuguese questionnaires were also applied: Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Morningness-Eveningness, Stop-Bang Questionnaires, The Pittsburgh Sleep Index, and the Satisfaction alertness Timing Efficiency Durations. These questionnaires wre answered by 43 Portuguese drivers between 23 na d63 years old. The obtained results indicated that the older drivers tend to experience excessive daytime sleepiness (8±3; p=0.003). Regarding sleep quality, the majority of the drivers were classified with poor sleep quality (69.76%). These results allowed to infer the association between the self-perceived sleep of the drivers, and the sleep that their sleep partner perceive regarding the drivers sleep and snoring habits (α=0.10; p=0.09) and the excessive sleepiness that the drivers have while driving (α=0.05; p=0.05). Taking into consideration the circadian preferences, it was possible to conclude that the drivers of this sample have na indiferente circadian preference. Regarding perceived sleep health, the results showed that the drivers who do small courses have a worse self-perception of sleep health (22.28±5.17; p<0.01). Therefore, i tis importante to implemente prevention programs, which understand the basic rules for better sleep quality, as well as the treatment of sleep disorders in order to minimize the conequences that they entail.