Journal of sleep research
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Journal of sleep research · Jun 2015
Quality of life among untreated sleep apnea patients compared with the general population and changes after treatment with positive airway pressure.
Obstructive sleep apnea leads to recurrent arousals from sleep, oxygen desaturations, daytime sleepiness and fatigue. This can have an adverse impact on quality of life. The aims of this study were to compare: (i) quality of life between the general population and untreated patients with obstructive sleep apnea; and (ii) changes of quality of life among patients with obstructive sleep apnea after 2 years of positive airway pressure treatment between adherent patients and non-users. ⋯ We did not find significant overall differences between full and non-users of positive airway pressure in improvement of quality of life from baseline to follow-up. However, there was a trend towards more improvement in physical quality of life for positive airway pressure-adherent patients, and the most obese subjects improved their physical quality of life more. The results suggest that co-morbidities of obstructive sleep apnea, such as obesity, insomnia and daytime sleepiness, have a great effect on life qualities and need to be taken into account and addressed with additional interventions.
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Journal of sleep research · Jun 2015
Observational StudyLength polymorphism in the Period 3 gene is associated with sleepiness and maladaptive circadian phase in night-shift workers.
The objective of the current study was to determine if night-shift workers carrying the five-repeat variant of the Period 3 gene show elevated levels of nocturnal sleepiness and earlier circadian phase compared with homozygotes for the four-repeat allele. Twenty-four permanent night-shift workers were randomly selected from a larger study. Participants took part in an observational laboratory protocol including an overnight multiple sleep latency test and half-hourly saliva collection for calculation of dim-light melatonin onset. ⋯ Period 3(-/5) night workers also show a mean circadian phase 6 h earlier (i.e. less adapted) than Period 3(4/4) workers. Because Period 3(-/5) workers have maladaptive circadian phase as well as pathological levels of sleepiness, they may be at greater risk for occupational and automotive accidents. We interpret these findings as a call for future research on the role of Period 3 in sleepiness and circadian phase, especially as they relate to night work.
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Journal of sleep research · Jun 2015
Sleepiness at the wheel across Europe: a survey of 19 countries.
The European Sleep Research Society aimed to estimate the prevalence, determinants and consequences of falling asleep at the wheel. In total, 12 434 questionnaires were obtained from 19 countries using an anonymous online questionnaire that collected demographic and sleep-related data, driving behaviour, history of drowsy driving and accidents. Associations were quantified using multivariate logistic regression. ⋯ Individual determinants of falling asleep were younger age; male gender [1.79 (1.61; 2.00)]; driving ≥20 000 km year [2.02 (1.74; 2.35)]; higher daytime sleepiness [7.49 (6.26; 8.95)] and high risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome [3.48 (2.78; 4.36) in men]. This Pan European survey demonstrates that drowsy driving is a major safety hazard throughout Europe. It emphasizes the importance of joint research and policy efforts to reduce the burden of sleepiness at the wheel for European drivers.