Sleep Apnea Monitoring and Testing

May 4, 2014 by Randolph Rosarion M.D. 0 Comments

Drivers with a diagnosis of sleep apnea and undergoing treatment, please be reminded that there are certain requirements for monitoring and testing. Often times, drivers come in and say that they have sleep apnea and are on CPAP, but they haven’t seen their sleep specialist in years. Sometimes I get a letter from the sleep medicine specialist saying that they haven’t seen their patient either, or that the driver is not using the CPAP on a regular basis, or worst, not at all when they review the smart card in their device to document usage. This can cause delay in re-certification or temporary disqualification when you come in for your DOT physical, as there will be no way of knowing the clinical course of your condition.

For more on sleep apnea please see earlier post “Sleep Apnea Where Do We Stand Now” and “Sleep Apnea Dangers and Rules”.

Here are the recommended guidelines for monitoring and testing from the FMCSA website:

Monitoring/Testing

The driver who is being treated for sleep apnea should remain symptom free and agree to:

Continue uninterrupted therapy.

Undergo yearly objective testing (e.g., multiple sleep latency test or maintenance of wakefulness test). See Sleep Disorder Tests.

Follow-up

The driver should have follow-up dependent upon the clinical course of the condition and recommendation of the treating healthcare provider, not to exceed 1 year.

The complete text of the medical conference reports can be accessed from FMCSA Medical Reports.

DOT Medical Examination Rules| Regulations, Driver Health, Medical Conditions

commercial drivers-sleep apnea, sleep apnea testing and monitoring

About Randolph Rosarion M.D.

Board Certified physician in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) Certified National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) Certified Medical Review Officer (MRO) USCIS designated Civil Surgeon Certified Examiner of Divers (Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine Society) FAA designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME)

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