Associations between gender and measures of daytime somnolence in the Sleep Heart Health Study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship of gender to subjective measures of sleepiness, including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), in a community-based population.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Multicenter Sleep Heart Health Study participants (N = 6.440, 52% women) recruited from ongoing cohort studies.


METHODS
N/A.


METHODS
Scores from the ESS, Sleep Heart Health Study daytime sleepiness and feeling unrested questions, polysomnography results (respiratory disturbance index at 4% desaturation), as well as data on difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, insufficient sleep, sedative use, alcohol use, cardiovascular or respiratory disease, frequent awakening due to leg cramps.


RESULTS
Women reported feeling sleepy as often as men did (odds ratio [OR] = 1.06; confidence interval [CI], 0.86-1.32), but women were less likely to have an ESS score > 10 (adjusted OR = 0.77; CI, 0.66-0.90) and more likely to report feeling unrested (adjusted OR = 1.39; CI, 1.14-1.69) than men. In men, the ESS score was more strongly correlated with reports of feeling unrested or sleepy compared to women.


CONCLUSIONS
Men and women answer questions on sleepiness differently. Findings indicate that using the ESS to detect subjective sleepiness is more likely to identify men with sleepiness. Since the ESS is more strongly related to other subjective measures in men, the ESS may be a more sensitive measure of subjective sleepiness in men than in women.
Baldwin
Carol M
CM
College of Medicine and Arizona Respiratory Center University of Arizona, Tucson 85724-50301, USA. carolb@resp-sci.arizona.edu
Kapur
Vishesh K
VK
Holberg
Catharine J
CJ
Rosen
Carol
C
Nieto
F Javier
FJ
D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors