睡眠の質、警戒心、眠気が運転に関連した認知能力に与える影響．若年者と高齢者の比較

The Influence of Sleep Quality, Vigilance, and Sleepiness on Driving-Related Cognitive Abilities: A Comparison between Young and Older Adults.

• Chiara Bartolacci
• Serena Scarpelli
• Aurora D'Atri
• Maurizio Gorgoni
• Ludovica Annarumma
• Chiara Cloos
• Anna Maria Giannini
• Luigi De Gennaro

抄録

:運転能力は眠気や警戒心の変動に強く影響される。過度の眠気は集中力、警戒心、反応時間を変化させる。睡眠は加齢とともに変化し、断片的になり、深みが薄れていく。しかし、これらの変化が日常生活にどのような影響を及ぼすのかについては、十分な検討がなされていないのが現状です。近年、欧州では、運転免許証の交付を必要とする危険性のある人に対して、眠気の評価が義務化されました。また、世界中の人々が急速に高齢化していくことが予想されることを考えると、老年期の睡眠変化、警戒レベル、運転に関連する認知能力との関係を調べる必要があると考えられる。睡眠の質、眠気、警戒レベルは、Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index、Karolinska Sleepiness Scale、Epworth Sleepiness Scale、Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT)を用いて評価した。運転に関連した認知能力は、選択的注意力、立位知覚、リスク想定を調査するVienna Test System TRAFFICを用いて評価した。意外なことに、若い被験者は自己評価された高い眠気を示す。さらに、高齢者では注意力と知覚テストのパフォーマンスは低いが、交通に関わる状況ではより慎重になるようである。この研究は、十分に大規模なサンプルを用いて、眠気/警戒心と特定の運転関連認知能力との関係を調査した最初の研究である。この研究では、睡眠アーキテクチャの特定の変化が、高齢者の日常生活におけるパフォーマンス、特に運転技能にどのような影響を与えるのかを理解することはできません。

: Driving performance is strongly vulnerable to drowsiness and vigilance fluctuations. Excessive sleepiness may alter concentration, alertness, and reaction times. As people age, sleep undergoes some changes, becoming fragmented and less deep. However, the effects of these modifications on daily life have not been sufficiently investigated. Recently, the assessment of sleepiness became mandatory in Europe for people at risk who need the driving license release. Moreover, considering the expectation that people around the world are rapidly aging, it is necessary to investigate the relationships between senescence sleep changes, vigilance levels, and driving-related cognitive skills. : 80 healthy subjects (40 young adults and 40 elders) participated in the study. Sleep quality, sleepiness, and vigilance levels were assessed through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). Driving-related cognitive abilities were assessed through Vienna Test System TRAFFIC, investigating selective attention, tachistoscopic perception, and risk assumption. : 2 × 2 between-subject ANOVAs showed less habitual sleep efficiency and worse performances in PVT in the older group. Unexpectedly, younger subjects show higher self-rated sleepiness. Moreover, older adults have lower performance in attention and perception tests, but they appear to be more cautious in situations involving traffic. Finally, the multiple regressions show age to be the only robust predictor of cognitive driving-related abilities. : This is the first study that investigates the relationships among sleepiness/vigilance and specific driving-related cognitive skills on a sufficiently large sample. Nevertheless, the study should be considered preliminary and does not allow us to understand how specific changes in sleep architecture impact performances in the elders' everyday life and, specifically, on driving skills.