Driving the point home: sleepiness and fatigue as independent predictors of driving behaviours, wellbeing, and sleep quality

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Pilkington-Cheney, F. ORCID: 0000-0001-8043-3137, Goodwin, P. ORCID: 0000-0002-1396-2626, Taylor, Y., Adkar, A. and Groeger, J. ORCID: 0000-0002-3582-1058, 2024. Driving the point home: sleepiness and fatigue as independent predictors of driving behaviours, wellbeing, and sleep quality. In: 27th Congress of the European Sleep Research Society, Seville, Spain, 24-27 September 2024.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14291

Abstract

Introduction: Within the literature, sleepiness and fatigue have distinct definitions. Despite this, the terms are used interchangeably and often confused. It follows that as they are distinct states, they should relate independently to aspects of performance (e.g., driving) and wellbeing. However, there is limited research exploring this differentiation. Sleepiness and fatigue are important considerations for workplace safety, particularly in relation to shift work. Shift work occupations, such as emergency services, involve safety critical tasks in high-stress environments (e.g., driving, high-stakes decision making, and effective communication). Therefore, to effectively manage and predict workplace sleepiness/fatigue, it is important to understand the relationship between these states and various outcomes.

Method: A large online survey was conducted across UK police forces. A total of 4513 employees responded to the survey (42% female, 58% male; <1% not given; mean age: 39.21 (± 10.52)). Questions were from five main categories: sleep, fatigue, wellbeing, driving and shift work, plus demographic questions. Respondents were recruited via National Police Wellbeing Service communications to individual police forces. Multiple Linear Regressions were conducted to explore the relationships between sleepiness (predictor Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Johns, 1991) and expected fatigue (predictor adapted from the Situational Fatigue Scale, Yang & Wu, 2005) with driving and wellbeing measures.

Results: The final sample included in the analysis was 2219 respondents. Although increased daytime sleepiness and higher expected fatigue were correlated (r = 0.37), the sleepiness and fatigue measures independently predicted scores for poor sleep, poor driving behaviours, perceived stress, and general health (ps < 0.001).

Conclusion: Sleepiness and fatigue independently predicted measures of wellbeing, poor sleep and driving behaviours, indicating that they are separate states. It is therefore important that the terms are not confused, particularly in relation to management of alertness (e.g., countermeasures), or in the prediction of risk. Exploring how sleepiness and fatigue differ in relation to certain behaviours increases our understanding of the two states and allows us to better predict sleepiness/fatigue risk within safety critical shift work (e.g., use of biomathematical models). This ultimately has the potential to reduce the risk of road crashes and workplace incidents causes by sleepiness and/or fatigue.

Item Type:

Conference contribution

Publication Title:

Journal of Sleep Research

Creators:

Pilkington-Cheney, F., Goodwin, P., Taylor, Y., Adkar, A. and Groeger, J.

Publisher:

Wiley

Date:

22 September 2024

Volume:

Number: