Assessment of sleep impairment in persistent allergic rhinitis patients using polysomnography.
BACKGROUND
Although questionnaires have demonstrated an association between impairment of quality of sleep and symptoms in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients, to date there is no report of an objective assessment of sleep in patients with persistent allergic rhinitis (PER) as defined by ARIA guidelines. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess sleep disturbance in PER patients by polysomnography (PSG).


METHODS
Ninety-eight PER patients with moderate-to-severe nasal obstruction and 30 healthy volunteers were included in the study. All patients underwent PSG during nocturnal sleep to assess the presence and severity of sleep disorders. Peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) was also measured to assess nasal resistance.


RESULTS
There were statistically significant, though clinically modest, differences between PER patients and healthy controls in most PSG parameters including sleep efficiency, arousal index, average SaO(2), lowest SaO(2), time spent with a saturation below 90%, and snoring time. Although the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was not significantly different between the 2 groups, 17 subjects (17.3%) in the PER group but none of the control subjects had an AHI >5. Patients with higher T5SS scores (12 ≤ T5SS ≤ 15) had a greater tendency to snore than did patients with lower scores (8 ≤ T5SS ≤ 11). Finally, PNIF in the PER group was significantly lower than in the control group. Weak correlations between the arousal index and PNIF, average SaO(2), and PNIF were found.


CONCLUSIONS
PSG showed modest changes in PER patients versus control subjects.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China.
J
J
Meng
J
J
Xuan
X
X
Qiao
X
X
Li
S
S
Liu
K F
KF
Lukat
N
N
Zhang
C
C
Bachert
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017286:Polysomnography; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D012882:Skin Tests; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012913:Snoring / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D000485:Allergens; D010100:Oxygen