title: Diagnostic classification of sleep disorders: implications for psychiatric practice.
abstract: We have applied a diagnostic classification of sleep and arousal disorders (Association of Sleep Disorders Centers - ASDC) to a group of 174 patients in order to assess its usefulness. In our population, there were over twice as many disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS) as there were disorders of excessive sleepiness (DOES). We found that 68.1% of diagnoses in DIMS were psychiatric (particularly affective disorders) and that 37.8% of diagnoses in DOES were either sleep apnea or narcolepsycataplexy. Furthermore, drug/alcohol abuse was much more strongly associated with DIMS, while medical disorders were more often found to be associated with DOES. Since only 58% of our sample could be adequately classified with one diagnosis, we expect that the ASDC nosology will need to evolve further. Nevertheless, the nosology should facilitate comparability and pooling of data across centers.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis