Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May 1;19(5):957-965.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10470.

The Bordeaux Sleepiness Scale (BOSS): a new questionnaire to measure sleep-related driving risk

Pierre Philip  1   2   3   4 , Jean-Arthur Micoulaud-Franchi  1   2   3 , Jacques Taillard  1   2   3 , Julien Coelho  1   2   3 , Camille Tisserand  3 , Yves Dauvilliers  5   6 , Patricia Sagaspe  1   2   3
Affiliations

The Bordeaux Sleepiness Scale (BOSS): a new questionnaire to measure sleep-related driving risk

Pierre Philip et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: Sleepiness is a well-known risk factor for traffic accidents. Our study presents a new questionnaire, the Bordeaux Sleepiness Scale (BOSS), specifically designed to evaluate sleep-related driving risk in patients with sleep disorders.

Methods: The BOSS was designed by gathering data on sociodemographics, sleepiness, driving items, and traffic accident exposure (kilometers driven) in the past year of 293 patients followed for sleep disorders at a French sleep clinic. It was then validated on data from a large population-based cohort of 7,296 highway drivers. Its performance was compared to the Epworth sleepiness scale and to self-reported episodes of severe sleepiness at the wheel. Receiver operating characteristic curves were computed.

Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the BOSS (cutoff = 3) to predict sleep-related near-misses or accidents was, respectively, 82% and 74%, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.83. In a cohort of patients and a large population-based cohort, the area under the curve of the BOSS was significantly larger than that of the Epworth sleepiness scale (P < .001). Although the areas under the curve were equivalent between the BOSS and sleepiness at the wheel, the specificity of the BOSS was higher.

Conclusions: The BOSS scale combining exposure (kilometers driven) and self-perception of situational sleepiness provides a simple and reliable evaluation of sleep-related driving risk. This short, specific questionnaire should be promoted as a first-line tool to evaluate the risk of traffic accidents in sleepy patients.

Citation: Philip P, Micoulaud-Franchi J-A, Taillard J, et al. The Bordeaux Sleepiness Scale (BOSS): a new questionnaire to measure sleep-related driving risk. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(5):957-965.

Keywords: French drivers; accident risk; questionnaire; sleep disorders; sleepiness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors approved the manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart of sleep clinic cohort.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Receiver operating characteristics curve of the BOSS and ESS for identifying sleep-related traffic near-misses or accidents in the internet-based cohort (n = 7,296).
BOSS = Bordeaux Sleepiness Scale, ESS = Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ohayon MM . From wakefulness to excessive sleepiness: what we know and still need to know . Sleep Med Rev. 2008. ; 12 ( 2 ): 129 – 141 . - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ohayon MM , Smolensky MH , Roth T . Consequences of shiftworking on sleep duration, sleepiness, and sleep attacks . Chronobiol Int. 2010. ; 27 ( 3 ): 575 – 589 . - PubMed
    1. Senaratna CV , Perret JL , Lodge CJ , et al. . Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in the general population: a systematic review . Sleep Med Rev. 2017. ; 34 : 70 – 81 . - PubMed
    1. Léger D , Stepnowsky C . The economic and societal burden of excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea . Sleep Med Rev. 2020. ; 51 : 101275 . - PubMed
    1. Philip P , Sagaspe P , Lagarde E , et al. . Sleep disorders and accidental risk in a large group of regular registered highway drivers . Sleep Med. 2010. ; 11 ( 10 ): 973 – 979 . - PubMed