Journal of Sleep Disorders & Therapy
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0277
ISSN: 2167-0277
The Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) is a validated objective measure of an individual's ability to stay awake. Pathologic sleepiness is associated with an increased risk of motor vehicle crashes. This fact has significant public safety implications, especially as it relates to commercial vehicle operators. Microsleep is defined as Electroencephalography (EEG) evidence of sleep occurring for three seconds or longer but less than 15 seconds of each 30 second epoch observed during polysomnography (PSG). In this study of patients referred for MWT evaluation as part of a medical evaluation for commercial motor vehicle certification, 25% failed the MWT as evidenced by the onset of sleep defined as three consecutive epochs of stage 1 sleep, or one epoch of any other sleep stage. Of the patients who remained awake for the entirety of all four wake periods, 59% had at least one observed episode of microsleep. This is the first study to assess the prevalence of microsleep in the commercial motor vehicle operator cohort.
Published Date: 2025-05-30; Received Date: 2025-04-29