There is a wealth of data that acknowledges poor sleep (namely poor sleep due to Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA)) being associated with Motor Vehicle Accidents, and now there is evidence that fixing OSA with CPAP will lessen your risk of car accidents.

In a Swedish Study performed by Karimi et al (1), MVA rates were monitored in the those with OSA, and then those with OSA on CPAP. This was compared to the risk of MVAs from the general population as provided y the Swedish Traffic Accident Registry.

They came to some predictable (and not so predictable) conclusions :

• Untreated OSA increases your risk of car accidents
• Using CPAP for OSA reduces that risk considerably

Surprisingly, the ‘severity’ of OSA did not entirely correlate with MVA risk… Suggesting it’s more than just about how Severe someone’s OSA is.

Treating OSA won’t make you a Formula-One driver, but will hopefully lower your risk of Car Accidents in everyday driving. If you’d like to see one of our Medical Sleep Specialists, contact us for an appointment.

1. Karimi et al. Sleep. 2015.