Stefan MIHAICUA*1, Carmen ARDELEAN2, Sorin URSONIU1, Stefan FREN1
1“Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania
2“Victor Babes” Hospital, Timioara, Romania
Abstract
The aim of the study was the analysis of excessive daytime somnolence reported and measured with the Epworth Somnolence Scale in predicting the occurrence of sleep apnea syndrome. Excessive daytime somnolence (EDS) is the most significant symptom of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). In the current study we evaluated 827 consecutive patients suspected to have SAS. All patients completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and anthropometric measurements were collected. The diagnosis of SAS for all patients was established after an overnight poligraphy or polisomnography in our Sleep Laboratory, using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) score. In our group of sleep laboratory patients, most of them were males (74%). Most patients had associated obesity and a mean±SD age of 52±11.89 years. Daytime somnolence was reported by 65% of participants, significantly higher at patients with SAS. EDS measured with Epworth sleepiness scale is a better predictor for SAS in severe diagnosed patients. Self-reported somnolence is not an independent predictor for SAS in univariate analysis. When measured with ESS, somnolence has as a powerful correlation with SAS in multiple regression analysis and has higher values at patients with systemic hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eventually, our results show that excessive daytime somnolence is a reliable predictor for SAS.
Keywords: excessive daytime somnolence, sleepiness, sleep apnea syndrome, predictors
