A simple blood test that can identify sleep deprivation could reduce road and workplace deaths.
The test, developed by a Monash University-led team, uses a combination of markers found in the blood to distinguish whether a person has been awake for 24 hours.
While testing is in its early stages, it's had a 99.2 per cent success rate in controlled conditions.
When tested like a regular blood test, the success rate dropped to 89.1 per cent, which researchers say is still very high.
Clare Anderson, who led the team and was senior author for the research article published in the journal Science Advances, said it was an exciting discovery for sleep scientists.
“While more work is required, this is a promising first step," Professor Anderson said.
“There is strong evidence that less than five hours’ sleep is associated with unsafe driving, but driving after 24 hours awake, which is what we detected here, would be at least comparable to more than double the Australian legal limit of alcohol performance-wise.”
The test may also be ideal for future forensic use but further studies are required.
First author Katy Jeppe said it was difficult to say how soon the test could be developed for post-accident use.
“Next steps would be to test it in a less controlled environment and maybe under forensic conditions, particularly if it was to be used as evidence for crashes involving drivers falling asleep,” Dr Jeppe said.
“Given it’s blood, the test is more limited in a roadside context, but future work could examine whether our metabolites, and therefore the biomarker, are evident in saliva or breath.”
This sleep deprivation biomarker is based on 24 hours or more of being awake but can detect down to 18 hours awake.
“Alcohol testing was a game changer for reducing road crashes and associated serious injuries and fatalities, and it is possible that we can achieve the same with fatigue," Dr Jeppe said.
