Drowsy driving remains a major cause of serious injury and fatal crashes. Physicians in training are at risk for drowsy driving following their clinical duties, which may put them in danger of experiencing adverse driving events. The study findings, published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, show that higher levels of subjective sleepiness were significantly associated with increased self-reported adverse driving events. Further, senior residents were noted to report a lower number of adverse driving events compared to junior residents. There is a need to explore this relationship further to determine whether improvement in sleep hygiene or improved tolerance of sleepiness leads to fewer reported adverse events. These findings have important implications for the health and safety of physicians in training as well as the overall safety of the public.
Submitted by Federico E Vaca on November 13, 2020