Validation of the STOP-Bang Questionnaire in Greek Patients Suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder with high prevalence and significant health consequences. The aim of this study was to validate the STOP-Bang Questionnaire, a widely used screening tool for OSA besides polysomnography, in Greek patients. A hundred and two (102) patients with OSA, aged [mean (SD)] 59.16 (8.53) years, and 102 healthy adults, aged [mean (SD)] 54.67 (9.36) years, were assessed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for different cut-off values. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was also used to examine predictive validity. Patients with OSA showed higher scores than healthy controls (p < 0.001). The resulting specificity, sensitivity, PPV, and NPV were 98%, 60%, 71%, 97%, (cut-off 3), 96%, 81%, 84%, 95% (cut-off 4), and 86%, 97%, 97%, 88% (cut-off 5), respectively. This study has demonstrated that the Greek version of STOP-Bang can be used in the clinical setting to differentiate patients with OSA from healthy individuals with high accuracy and at low cost.

The Role of Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention in Obstructive Sleep Apnea. A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic disease causing daytime sleepiness and poor sleep and life quality. So far, its repercussions on psychological health have been poorly addressed in the available literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a cognitive-based stress management technique, called the Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention (PSAI), in patients with OSA. In this randomized controlled (parallel usual care group) trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio, patients in the intervention group (N = 30, 59.7 ± 9.4 years old, 15 females) received PSAI for 8 weeks along with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, while patients in the control group (N = 30, 58.9 ± 9.3, 22 females) received CPAP alone. The primary endpoint included OSA symptoms. Secondary endpoints were sleepiness, sleep quality, depression-anxiety-stress, and affect. All 30 patients in the intervention group showed 100% compliance with PSAI. There was a statistically significant reduction in OSA symptoms in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = 0.021). With regard to secondary endpoints, there were statistically significant improvements in sleep quality (p = 0.001) and positive (p = 0.001) and negative affects (p < 0.001) in the PSAI group versus controls. No side effects were reported by the patients. PSAI may be useful as a complementary tool for the management of patients suffering from OSA. Larger randomized controlled trials are required to validate the results of this study.

A novel cognitive stress management technique for acne vulgaris: a short report of a pilot experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris (AV) is one of the most common disorders treated by dermatologists and other healthcare providers. Stress is a well-attested contributor to AV pathogenesis. However, to our knowledge, stress management has not yet been performed in AV patients. In this 8-week experimental study, we primarily examined the effectiveness of a novel method, dubbed Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention (PSAI) in AV. METHODS: This is a two-armed 1 : 1 randomized non-blind experimental study. The total sample was comprised of 15 female patients in the intervention group (mean age 27.2 ± 6.6) and 15 female patients in the control group (mean age 29.1 ± 6.9), all women. Measurements included clinical stage of AV, acne-related quality of life, perceived stress, and positive and negative affect assessed by validated self-administered tools. RESULTS: Fourteen (93.3%) patients in the intervention group and four (26.7%) patients in the control group showed improvement of the acne stage (relative risk: 3.5, 95% CI 1.5-8.2, P = 0.001). Significant improvements remained after adjusting for age and baseline acne stage. Large to moderate significant effects were observed for perceived stress and negative affect. There were no dropouts and side effects in the PSAI group, whereas compliance reached 100%. CONCLUSIONS: Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention is a feasible and possibly effective stress management method for AV. Future larger and longer randomized controlled studies are strongly encouraged.