Sleep-disordered breathing in elderly people and subjective sleep-wake disturbance.
Sleep-disordered breathing and subjective reports of sleep-wake disturbances are both common in elderly people but previous studies investigating the relationship between the two have produced uncertain results. We hypothesized that there is no relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and subjective reports of sleep-wake disturbance. Ninety-three random-sampled retirement-village residents, mean age 77.6 years, were monitored overnight with a portable microprocessor-based system. The respiratory disturbance index (RDI) was used as a measure of sleep-disordered breathing. Subjects were interviewed regarding sleep-wake patterns and snoring history and the Mini Mental State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale and Nelson Adult Reading Test were administered. The sleep-wake responses were entered into a principal components analysis. Two components, reflecting night-time and daytime disturbance, accounted for 34% of the variance. Multiple regression analyses were performed using RDI as a continuous dependent variable, and three predictor variables, night-time, and daytime disturbance and history of snoring. Together, these variables accounted for only 2% of the variance. We conclude there is no relationship between mild and moderate sleep-disordered breathing and subjective sleep-wake disturbance in this population.
Mant
A
A
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Eyland
E A
EA
Hewitt
H
H
Fox
M
M
Goode
E
E
LeCount
A
A
Pond
D
D
Saunders
N A
NA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D013990:Tidal Volume / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology