Truckers with Obstructive Sleep Apnea May Be Required To Undergo Treatment Prior To Issue Of Certification

March 26, 2008 7:12 a.m. EST

Washington, DC (AHN) - In an effort to ensure high road safety among American motorists and commuters, the medical review board of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will come out by April 7 its recommendations for truckers with obstructive sleep apnea. Under the proposed recommendations, truck drivers must secure treatment to get a certification.

The range of treatment modules available for OSA patients include surgery or putting on a mask while sleeping to allow air into the body's airway.

A study by the agency of commercial drivers license holders showed that 17.6 percent of licensed truckers had mild sleep apnea, another 5.8 percent had moderate sleep apnea and 4.7 percent suffer from severe sleep apnea. Two major factors were identified with the prevalence of sleep apnea, age and obesity.

People with OSA often wake up during sleep because their airways partially close. This causes them to lose sleep and for truck drivers it could be deadly not only for themselves but also for nearby motorists and commuters.

Another board recommendation expected to be approved is to make it mandatory for obese OSA victims to undergo a sleep study, but there is no agreement yet at what level of obesity should the benchmark be set, said Maggi Gunnels, FMcSA's medical programs director.

Allan Pack, director of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania, pointed out that drivers with OSA are 2 1/2 times more at risk of being involved in a crash. "And the crashes you get into tend to be fairly severe," Pack told USA Today.

But the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, according to its director of operations Tom Weakley, said it is not in favor of mandatory tests for OSA for truckers on the sole basis of being overweight, except if a direct causal relationship between the ailment and obesity could be established.