Polysomnography indexes are discordant with quality of life, symptoms, and reaction times in sleep apnea patients.
OBJECTIVE
We tested whether polysomnography (PSG) indexes were associated with sleepiness, quality of life, or reaction times at baseline and as outcome measures following surgical or sham treatment for patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).


METHODS
Mild-moderate OSAS subjects were measured before and 8 weeks after surgical or sham treatment in this prospective longitudinal study. Measures included standard PSG indexes, sleepiness, quality of life, and reaction times. Associations were examined with Spearman correlations and multivariate linear regression.


RESULTS
Correlations between baseline PSG and non-PSG measures ranged from -0.22 to 0.25 (n, 87 subjects; mean correlation, 0.00 +/- 0.11), with one positive association significant of 56 tested (arousal index and SF36 Mental Component Summary, r, 0.25; P = 0.03). Correlations between change in PSG and non-PSG measures ranged from -0.37 to 0.35 (n, 54 subjects; mean correlation, -0.05 +/- 0.19), with no significant positive association of 56 tested. Regression analyses confirmed these results.


CONCLUSIONS
PSG indexes are not consistently associated with sleepiness, quality of life, or reaction time, both at baseline and as outcome measures in patients with mild-moderate OSAS. PSG indexes may not quantify some important aspects of OSAS disease burden or treatment outcome. Clinically important outcomes should be measured directly.


METHODS
A.
Weaver
Edward M
EM
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sleep Disorders Center, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. eweaver@u.washington.edu
Woodson
B Tucker
BT
Steward
David L
DL
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D011788:Quality of Life; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome