Daytime sleepiness and attention in city bus drivers of two capitals of Brazil.

Brazil is one of the world leaders on traffic accidents. The present article studied the excessive daytime sleepiness of public transport drivers in two Brazilian's capitals and their level of attention. It was conducted here a descriptive transversal study of a convenient sample. For the evaluation were used: anthropometric variables, a Sleep Questionnaire, Epworth Scale of Sonolency (ESS), Diffused Attention Test (TADIM), and Concentrated Attention Test (TACOM-A). There were evaluated 300 drivers from Brasilia and 104 from Florianopolis. The majority of the individuals were overweight and presented somnolence. The neck circumference was smaller in Brasília, where the drivers were also more sleepiness and presented worst attention on TACOM-A. The analysis of correlation was significant between attention tests and age and between BMI and ESS. Factors as differences in work journeys as well differences between the traffic in these two cities may be associated to our findings. We concluded that sleepiness is a common factor of risk between professional bus drivers and that was correlated with BMI, as well as the attention was correlated with age.