Comparison of Awareness of Symptoms and Illness Between Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Simple Snoring / 수면정신생리

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is often undiagnosed but is an important risk factor affecting the health of an individual. The level of awareness of the illness among patients with OSA is low and is not correlated with severity of the illness. This study was conducted to compare awareness of OSA symptoms and illness between patients with OSA and simple snorers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred eighty-two patients who were suspected of having OSA participated in this study. All subjects underwent overnight polysomnography. Those with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5 were classified as the OSA group, while those with an AHI < 5 were classified as the simple snoring group. A sleep questionnaire, which included items on awareness of the illness, OSA, and sleep symptoms, was administered to all subjects and their bed-partners. RESULTS: Simple snorers were much more aware of their symptoms such as snoring, irregular breathing, and apnea than were patients with OSA. Bed-partners of simple snorers were also more aware of the participants' sleep symptoms than were partners of patients with OSA. However, the duration of OSA symptoms was longer in the OSA group. In the correlation analysis, the level of awareness of OSA symptoms was negatively correlated with AHI, age, body mass index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score. Among the sleep questionnaire and polysomnography results, only Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was positively correlated with level of awareness of OSA symptoms. The minority of the respondents had heard about the treatment methods of continuous positive airway pressure and oral appliance and preferred them as treatment options. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that simple snorers are more aware of their symptoms than are patients with OSA. A higher severity of OSA, represented by a higher AHI, is correlated with lower awareness of one's OSA symptoms.

Personality Characteristics of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Simple Snoring : A Preliminary Study / 수면정신생리

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have evaluated the personality characteristics of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and simple snoring. We investigated the personality characteristics of OSA and simple snoring patients and compared differences in personality between the two groups using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-seven patients who were suspected to have OSA or simple snoring participated in this study. A self-questionnaire which included the EPQ was administered to all participants. All subjects underwent polysomnography in a sleep laboratory and those with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > or =5 were included in the OSA group, while those with an AHI <5 were included in the simple snoring group. RESULTS: OSA patients had significantly lower scores for Psychoticism (F=4.563, p=0.034) than simple snorers. There were no significant differences in Extraversion (F=3.029, p=0.083), Lie (F=0.398, p=0.529), or Neuroticism (F=3.367, p=0.068) scores between the two groups. In the correlation analysis of the OSA group, AHI was positively correlated with Extraversion score (r=0.16, p=0.029) and negatively correlated with Lie score (B=-0.31, p<0.001). Using multiple stepwise linear regression analysis with the four EPQ parameter scores as dependent variables, Lie score was associated with older age (B=0.14, p<0.001) and lower AHI (B=-0.05, p<0.001), Psychoticism score was associated with higher Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI ; B=0.14, p<0.001), Neuroticism score was associated with higher PSQI (B=0.34, p=0.001) and female sex (B=3.15, p=0.003), and Extraversion score was associated with younger age (B=-0.08, p=0.020) and higher body mass index (B=0.26, p=0.023). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that patients with OSA are significantly less prone to psychotic personality characteristics than those with simple snoring. Among OSA patients, higher AHI was correlated with low falsehood and high extraversion tendencies.

A Preliminary Study of Acoustic Characteristics of Snoring Sound in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) and with Simple Snoring / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective To investigate the acoustic characteristics of snoring sound in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and with simple snoring. Methods 22 patients with OSAHS and 15 with simple snoring were included in this study. Natural overnight snoring was digitally recorded and portable sleep mo-nitoring was performed simultaneously. 10 snores, which were the 1st snores after 10 cycles of obstructive apnea, from each patient in OSAHS group, and 10 snores from each patient in simple snoring group were analyzed in the time and frequency domains. Results The sound waves of snoring in the two groups exhibited different patterns both in the time and frequency domains. The snoring spectrum of patients with simple snoring showed distinct fun-damental- harmonic structures which were not clear in patients with OSAHS. The central frequency of the patients with OSAHS was higher, and 800 Hz power ratio was lower than those of the patients with simple snoring. In the OSAHS group, the central frequency of the patients with moderate-to-severe OSAHS was higher, and 800 Hz power ratio was lower than those of the patients with mild OSAHS. The differences of the two parameters were of statistical significance. Conclusion The snoring sounds in patients with OSAHS and with simple snoring have dif-ferent characteristics in time and frequency domains, indicating that it is feasible to research the OSAHS by way of snore monitoring and analyzing technique.