title: Depression and anxiety in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE - To provide an update on recent research on depression and anxiety in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHODS - A review was carried out on reports drawn from MEDLINE and PSYCHLIT (January 1995-June 2006) and identified from their list of references. The selection criteria were met by 55 articles. RESULTS - Sample sizes in the reviewed studies varied widely and consisted mainly of working age men. Depression and anxiety were mostly evaluated with commonly used mood scales; only a few studies provided a psychiatric diagnosis. Prevalence figures fluctuated considerably for both depression (7-63%) and anxiety (11-70%). The effect of the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on mood was inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS - Variations in the prevalence of depression and anxiety are affected by patient characteristics, mood assessment methods, and overlap between mood alterations and OSAS-related symptoms. CPAP might improve mood alterations but more long-term follow-up studies are needed to verify the effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. tiia.saunamaki@uta.fi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saunamäki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jehkonen
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D013995:Time; D016896:Treatment Outcome