Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers
BackgroundTruck drivers are vulnerable to driver sleepiness due to pressures of shift work and prolonged driving hours; this is a safety concern as sleepiness more than doubles crash risk. Caffeine is a commonly used countermeasure to driver sleepiness. Previous research with truck drivers has demon...
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rr-article-119133602020-02-21T00:00:00Z Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers Ashleigh Filtness (1384968) JS Hickman (8504703) JE Mabry (8504706) L Glenn (8504709) H Mao (8504712) M Camden (8504715) RJ Hanowski (8504718) Truck Driver sleepiness Driver fatigue Caffeine Truck crashes <div>Background</div><div>Truck drivers are vulnerable to driver sleepiness due to pressures of shift work and prolonged driving hours; this is a safety concern as sleepiness more than doubles crash risk. Caffeine is a commonly used countermeasure to driver sleepiness. Previous research with truck drivers has demonstrated a positive impact of caffeine consumption on crash risk. However, habitual use of caffeine has the potential to impair night time sleep resulting in increased sleepiness and safety risk. One group that may be particularly vulnerable to the potential negative impacts of high caffeine consumption are those truck drivers who consume ≥ 5 caffeinated drinks per day (≥90th percentile American average daily caffeine consumption).</div><div><br></div><div>Method</div><div>1,653 self-reported low (1 caffeinated drink per day) and 1,354 high (≥5 caffeinated drinks per day) caffeine consumers were compared across a range of driving safety indicators, health and sleep variables. All drivers completed an initial background questionnaire including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI). Crashes and driving violations were monitored for up to 3 years (depending on enrolment date). Medical Examination Reports were available for 83.0% of the 3,007 participants.</div><div><br></div><div>Results</div><div>High caffeine consumers were more likely to report poor sleep outcomes: shorter average sleep time, (7.08 h compared to 7.41 h), higher prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (7.5% compared to 5.7%) and higher proportion at high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on the BQ (13.1% compared with 9.4%). The higher caffeine consumers were more likely to report negative health behaviours: smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet and infrequent exercise. Poorer driving safety indicators (negative emotions and aggressive driving on the DDDI) and previous crashes (27.8% compared to 21.6%) were also more common in high than low caffeine consumers.</div><div><br></div><div>Conclusion</div><div>Caffeine is an effective countermeasure to driver sleepiness, however, high caffeine consumers do not exhibit any benefit to driving safety indicators. In fact, there is some evidence for safety concern because high caffeine consumers self-report more crashes and worse driving safety indicators than low caffeine consumers. High caffeine consumption was associated with poor health behaviours. Further research is needed to fully understand the implications of high caffeine use. Interventions aiming to reduce truck driver sleepiness should be cautious in promotion of caffeine in isolation; a wholistic approach to improve driver health would likely be more effective than focusing on sleep health alone.</div> 2020-02-21T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/11913360.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Associations_between_high_caffeine_consumption_driving_safety_indicators_sleep_and_health_behaviours_in_truck_drivers/11913360 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
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Truck Driver sleepiness Driver fatigue Caffeine Truck crashes |
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Truck Driver sleepiness Driver fatigue Caffeine Truck crashes Ashleigh Filtness JS Hickman JE Mabry L Glenn H Mao M Camden RJ Hanowski Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
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BackgroundTruck drivers are vulnerable to driver sleepiness due to pressures of shift work and prolonged driving hours; this is a safety concern as sleepiness more than doubles crash risk. Caffeine is a commonly used countermeasure to driver sleepiness. Previous research with truck drivers has demonstrated a positive impact of caffeine consumption on crash risk. However, habitual use of caffeine has the potential to impair night time sleep resulting in increased sleepiness and safety risk. One group that may be particularly vulnerable to the potential negative impacts of high caffeine consumption are those truck drivers who consume ≥ 5 caffeinated drinks per day (≥90th percentile American average daily caffeine consumption).Method1,653 self-reported low (1 caffeinated drink per day) and 1,354 high (≥5 caffeinated drinks per day) caffeine consumers were compared across a range of driving safety indicators, health and sleep variables. All drivers completed an initial background questionnaire including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI). Crashes and driving violations were monitored for up to 3 years (depending on enrolment date). Medical Examination Reports were available for 83.0% of the 3,007 participants.ResultsHigh caffeine consumers were more likely to report poor sleep outcomes: shorter average sleep time, (7.08 h compared to 7.41 h), higher prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (7.5% compared to 5.7%) and higher proportion at high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on the BQ (13.1% compared with 9.4%). The higher caffeine consumers were more likely to report negative health behaviours: smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet and infrequent exercise. Poorer driving safety indicators (negative emotions and aggressive driving on the DDDI) and previous crashes (27.8% compared to 21.6%) were also more common in high than low caffeine consumers.ConclusionCaffeine is an effective countermeasure to driver sleepiness, however, high caffeine consumers do not exhibit any benefit to driving safety indicators. In fact, there is some evidence for safety concern because high caffeine consumers self-report more crashes and worse driving safety indicators than low caffeine consumers. High caffeine consumption was associated with poor health behaviours. Further research is needed to fully understand the implications of high caffeine use. Interventions aiming to reduce truck driver sleepiness should be cautious in promotion of caffeine in isolation; a wholistic approach to improve driver health would likely be more effective than focusing on sleep health alone. |
| format |
Default Article |
| author |
Ashleigh Filtness JS Hickman JE Mabry L Glenn H Mao M Camden RJ Hanowski |
| author_facet |
Ashleigh Filtness JS Hickman JE Mabry L Glenn H Mao M Camden RJ Hanowski |
| author_sort |
Ashleigh Filtness (1384968) |
| title |
Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| title_short |
Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| title_full |
Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| title_fullStr |
Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| title_sort |
associations between high caffeine consumption, driving safety indicators, sleep and health behaviours in truck drivers |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2134/11913360.v1 |
| _version_ |
1797460257086111744 |