title: Quality of life in patients at first time visit for sleep disorders of breathing at a sleep centre.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sleep-disordered breathing adversely affects daytime alertness and cognition. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients have several typical symptoms including habitual snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, lack of concentration, memory impairment, and at times psychological disturbances. We evaluated different aspects in the health related quality of life (HRQoL) in subjects referred to our sleep laboratory for their first examination for suspicion of OSA.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred ninety-eight consecutive outpatients (152 M) (mean age 52.7 ± 12.8 years, range 18-82 years; mean BMI 31.0 ± 6.5 kg/m(2), range 17.3-57.8 kg/m(2) were evaluated with two self-reported questionnaires for HRQoL assessment: Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI), that asses anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, vitality, and 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), consisting assesses of Physical and Mental Component Summaries (PCS and MCS). Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to assess daytime sleepiness before nocturnal diagnostic examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects showed variable HRQoL scores. HRQoL was worse in women than men and it decreased with age. No relation was found with AHI severity (range 0-129 n/h). BMI and TSat90 (range 0-87.9%) affected physical health perception (SF-12 PCS). Furthermore TSat90 influenced PGWBI Vitality subscale. Subjects with ESS > 10 showed a worse HRQoL profile (p < 0.001) in SF-12 and in PGWBI. Multiple regression analysis showed that age, BMI and ESS were significant predictors of SF-12 PCS (p < 0.001; r(2) = 0.23).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A worse HRQoL perception among subjects referred for OSA suspicion was not related to disease severity. BMI and hypoxemia influenced only some HRQoL dimensions, while excessive daytime sleepiness worsens all HRQoL components considered.
authors: Serena
authors: S
authors: Iacono Isidoro
authors: National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology "A, Monroy", Via Ugo La Malfa, 153 - 90146, Palermo, Italy. salvaggio@ibim.cnr.it.
authors: Adriana
authors: A
authors: Salvaggio
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Lo Bue
authors: Salvatore
authors: S
authors: Romano
authors: Oreste
authors: O
authors: Marrone
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Insalaco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000523:psychology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult