A case-control study on psychological symptoms in sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the psychological status of patients with sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) and to evaluate the association of SAHS with psychological symptoms, using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) scale.


METHODS
The study comprised 30 SAHS patients (25 men, 5 women) and 30 matched, healthy control subjects. They all completed the SCL-90 and the Epworth Sleep Scale (ESS) and underwent a whole-night polysomnographic (PSG) examination. We used t-tests for group comparisons of nocturnal PSG characteristics, daytime sleepiness, and psychological symptoms. We employed Spearman's rank correlation analysis to indicate the effects of several nocturnal PSG variables (for example, total sleep time, percentage of wake at sleep, Apnea and Hypopnea Index [AHI], and oxygen desaturation) or subjective daytime sleepiness on psychological symptoms in SAHS.


RESULTS
SAHS patients suffered from fragmented sleep and decreased arterial oxygen saturations, compared with healthy control subjects. The General Severity Index (GSI) of SCL-90 was significantly higher in SAHS patients than in healthy control subjects, as were measures of somatization, obsession-compulsion, depression, anxiety, and hostility (P < 0.05). The severity of psychological symptoms in SAHS patients was negatively related to total sleep time and percentage of stage 2 nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep; it was positively related to percentage of wake time after sleep onset, percentage of stage 1 NREM sleep, and ESS scores.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study population, SAHS patients had decreased psychological well-being, which could be explained by fragmented sleep or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Yue
Weihua
W
Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 86, Middle Renmin Road, 410011, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China. dryue@163.com
Hao
Wei
W
Liu
Pozi
P
Liu
Tieqiao
T
Ni
Ming
M
Guo
Qi
Q
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000295:instrumentation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000150:complications; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D010100:Oxygen