Relation between road accidents and sleep quality of heavy vehicle drivers in Yazd

Aims: The aim of this study was to study the sleep quality of truck and trailer drivers in Yazd and its relation with traffic accidents and associated expenses. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included nonrandom simple method including 200 truck and trailer drivers. A two-sectional questionnaire was used: the first section included the standard Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire, while the second section included demographic characteristics of the subjects. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical method and T-test analysis through SPSS 17 software. Findings: The mean daily sleep period of the subjects under study was 6.46 ± 1.8 h and the mean of sleep quality score was 7.22 ± 2.72 h. Of the total, 75.5% had a sleep quality score greater than 5 that depicts the low quality of sleep in them. 29.5% had suffered from accidents in the last decade and 28% of those were due to sleepiness. The distribution of the sleep quality score on basis of sleep duration and falling sleep time was meaningful. The distribution of history of cigarettes smoking, narcotics abuse, and use of sedatives on basis of sleep quality score was also significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that 75.5% of the truck and trailer drivers had sleep quality disorders and accidents resulting in injuries. Sleep quality in drivers who had precedence of accidents was lower than the drivers without any accidents so sleepiness can be one of the main causes of accidents among the professional drivers in Iran.