Airwaves

Abstract

Traffic accidents are a major issue in patients with sleep apnoea and nasal CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy improves driving performance. However, information is required on the time course of improvement so that patients can be advised when to restart driving after starting CPAP or whether they can drive safely after missing treatment. Turkington and colleagues used a simulator to study the time course of driving performance after starting CPAP therapy. They found that driving performance had significantly improved by 7 days and that, after stopping CPAP therapy, the improvements were maintained for up to 1 week after withdrawal although the effect size was now smaller. This study provides some valuable information on driving performance for all of us who treat patients with sleep apnoea. See page 56