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Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea among commercial bus drivers in Malaysia
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  1. Y Fadhli*,
  2. M B Marina,
  3. M Norlen,
  4. M Y Razif,
  5. O Ilhamah,
  6. A Mazita,
  7. A Sani
  1. Correspondence Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) Lot 125–135, Jalan TKS 1, Taman Kajang Sentral, 43000 Kajang, Selangor 43000, Malaysia

Abstract

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) has been identified as one of the significant risk factors for motor vehicle crashes (MVC). In Malaysia, the prevalence of OSA among general population and commercial bus drivers are not known. In the interest of public safety, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of OSA among commercial bus drivers in Malaysia and the association of OSA with MVC. A cross-sectional study involving 292 randomly selected express bus drivers from five commercial bus companies were conducted over a 6 month period. The recruitment process involved two sampling stages; selection of five bus companies from a list of 12 main commercial bus companies in Malaysia and selection of bus drivers from the selected bus companies. Apart from questionnaire on demography and signs and symptoms of OSA, the Berlin and ESS Questionnaire were used for data collection. This was followed by polysomnography test which was done in a Clinical Research Ward, in hospital. Out of 292 subjects, 289 were eligible for analysis. The study revealed that 128 subjects (44.3%) were categorised as having OSA with 83 (28.7%), 26 (9.0%) and 26 (6.6) were classified as mild, moderate and severe OSA, respectively. The study have also identified that age, snoring, BMI, hypertension, neck circumference were significantly associated with OSA status. The results supported the need for identifying the risk group for OSA among commercial bus drivers and the need to diagnose them early for early intervention.

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