Sleepiness and other driving risks in young adults: Final report Article Swipe
YOU?
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· 2016
· Open Access
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· OA: W3011392556
This project aimed to investigate the impact of sleepiness and stress on the driving behaviours of young adults (aged 18-25 years). The primary objective was to generate evidence to inform practical and effective interventions to reduce the sleepiness-related road crash risk of young adults. The study sample comprised 83 young adult drivers aged between 18 and 25 years old, sampled from two metropolitan centres in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Queensland (QLD) in Australia. Data were collected prospectively across a 7-day period using a combination of questionnaires, daily sleep diary, stress and driving related diaries, 24-hour ambulatory assessment of both sleep-wake activity (using actigraphy) and stress (using electrocardiography), and in-vehicle monitoring technologies. The project sought to address the following research questions; (1) to determine the impact of sleepiness on on-road driving performance in young adults; (2) to contribute to evidence on young adults’ exposure to driving while sleepy, and (3) to determine interactions between sleepiness and stress related driving risk factors in young adults. Results indicated that participants were generally meeting current recommendations for sleep duration (between 7-9 hours each night), believed that their sleep quality was ‘fair’, and did not experience significant subjective sleepiness, nor stress, while driving at times of the day associated with greater crash risk. However, objective risky driving performance was negatively associated with habitual objective sleep duration, suggesting that individuals with shorter sleep were more prone to drive in a risky manner. In contrast, higher subjective sleepiness was associated with less risky driving, suggesting that young drivers may adopt self-regulatory strategies in certain situations. This finding was mirrored in questionnaire data, where participants reported differences in their driving behaviour while sleepy (e.g. by avoiding other ‘unsafe’ behaviours such as speeding or distractions), compared to driving when not sleepy. Road crashes remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity for young adults, and sleepiness is a major contributor to those crashes. These new findings provide robust knowledge to inform potential new interventions to reduce sleep-related road crashes.
