Clinical Research
Current Projects in Clinical Sleep Research
Clinical sleep research projects currently underway at the Centre include:
National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project
Light intervention for shiftworkers
Dr. Sally Ferguson, Michael Cvirn
The aim of this project is to investigate the efficacy of a non-pharmalogical treatment for fatigue and sleepiness using light intervention in alleviating sleepiness and fatigue during laboratory-simulated night shifts.
Past Projects
Driving impairment in obstructive sleep apnoea (2006-2008, NHMRC Project Grant)
Conducted collaboratively with the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, this project investigated driving impairment caused by sleepiness in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common disorder with significant adverse cardiovascular and neurobehavioural consequences. Excessive sleepiness and defects in memory and psychomotor efficiency, sustained attention and concentration are well documented. The risk of a motor-vehicle accident (MVA) secondary to OSA is emerging as a significant public health concern with studies showing a 2-7 fold relative risk in untreated disease. Extrapolation from US data indicates that OSA may lead to over 50,000 accidents per year in Australia.
Increased public and medical awareness is leading to the identification of large numbers of OSA patients but the ability of road safety and health care professionals to assess MVA risk and advise on risk reduction is lagging seriously behind. For example, while data suggest that patients with severe OSA are at increased risk, little is known about MVA risk and driving performance in patients with mild-moderate disease. We know that healthy young adult drivers are prone to fall-asleep accidents after partial sleep deprivation and that low dose alcohol acts synergistically with sleep loss to markedly impair driving. The vulnerability of OSA patients to these additional insults is unknown yet they are common and likely to be important. Treatment of severe OSA improves driving performance and accident risk, but treatment response in certain functional domains (e.g. sleepiness, response time) is often incomplete raising the spectre of ongoing driving impairment.
Key researchers: Dr. Stuart Baulk, Dr. Cameron van den Heuvel, Dr. Jill Dorrian, Dr. Siobhan Banks
Visit the Adelaide Sleep Health website at: http://www.adelaidesleephealth.org.au
Do snoring children need treatment?
Dr van den Heuvel is currently collaborating with Dr Kurt Lushington (School of Psychology, UniSA), Dr Declan Kennedy (Paediatrics, University of Adelaide) and Dr James Martin (Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Women's and Children's Hospital). He also has Affiliate Researcher status with the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital and the University of Adelaide's Department of Paediatrics. The current research focuses on children with mild snoring who have been shown to suffer impaired intellectual abilities, such as in memory, intelligence, attention and executive functions. Snoring children are also more likely to have behavioural problems and poor grades at school. The current project aims to identify for the first time the natural history of snoring in Australian school children, so that clinical treatment can be targeted more effectively at those children who will develop long-standing deficits due to snoring.
Key researchers: Cameron van den Heuvel, Kurt Lushington.