Emotional Stress Evaluation of Patients with Moderate and Severe Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Abstract Introduction The scientific literature has shown that the damage caused by sleep fragmentation in people affected by Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) can reflect emotionally, generating not only physical symptoms such as drowsiness and tiredness, but also psychical symptoms, such as stress. Objective This study aimed at comparing symptoms of stress in patients with moderate or severe OSA, before and after twomonths of treatment (clinical or surgical). Method This is an Individual, prospective, longitudinal, and interventional study. All patients underwent polysomnography before treatment.We collected data through the application of Stress Symptoms Inventory for Adults Lipp (ISSL) before and after two months of medical or surgical treatment for moderate or severe OSA. Results The sample consisted of 18 patients (72.2% male) with a mean age of 51.83 years. We found that 77.8% (n = 14) of patients had stress in the first evaluation. In the second evaluation (after treatment), this reduced to 16.7% (n = 3). The average stress symptoms decreased from the first to the second evaluation (M = 13.78 andM = 6.17, respectively), being statistically significant (z = -3.53; p < 0.000). Conclusions We found that moderate and severe apnea patients have significant stress index and that, after two months of medical or surgical treatment, there is a significant reduction of the symptom. In addition, the patients with severe OSA had a better outcome regarding the reduction of stress index than patients with moderate OSA.

Síndrome de apnéia obstrutiva do sono: avaliação da ansiedade em pacientes recém-diagnosticados / Obstrutive sleep apnea syndrome: anxiety assesssment in patients newly diagnosed

Com o objetivo de analisar e identificar os níveis de ansiedade em uma amostra de portadores da síndrome da apneia obstrutiva do sono, antes e após um mês de tratamento clínico ou cirúrgico, a Escala de Ansiedade Beck foi aplicada em uma amostra de 18 pacientes com esse diagnóstico. Resultados mostraram que 55,5% dos participantes apresentavam ansiedade na primeira avaliação (antes do início do tratamento), entre os níveis leve, moderado e grave. Na segunda avaliação (um mês após início do tratamento) os pacientes apresentaram diminuição significativa na média de sintomas de ansiedade pós-início de tratamento (z=-3,51, p0,000). Estudos envolvendo outras variáveis, tais como adaptação ao tratamento, avaliação da qualidade do sono e efeitos de um programa de intervenção são recomendado

Aiming to analyze and identify the levels of anxiety in a sample of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome before and after a month of medical or surgical treatment, the Beck Anxiety Scale was administered to a sample of 18 patients with this diagnosis. Results showed that 55.5% of the participants reported anxiety at the first assessment (before starting treatment), between the low, moderate and severe levels. In the second evaluation (one month after initiation of treatment) patients showed a significant decrease in mean symptoms of post-treatment initiation (z = -3.51, p <0.000) anxiety. Studies involving other variables, such as adaptation to treatment, assessment of sleep quality and effects of a program of intervention are recommended