| Abstract: | Background: Sleep disorders are common diseases among adult population. Lack or poor quality of sleeps could cause problems to human health.
Objective: This study examined the severities of the sleep apnea and sleepiness for the patients with sleep disorders, analyzed the association between sleep apnea, sleepiness and sleeping qualities, and explored factors correlated with sleep apnea and sleepiness.
Methods: Subjects were enrolled in a sleep center of a medical center in central Taiwan, from November 30, 2006 to December 31, 2008.Total 1310 samples were enrolled, excluding incomplete questionnaire and age under 18 years old. Linear regression analysis was used to study the relationships of personal characteristics and sleeping quality to the severity of sleep apnea and sleepiness in different gender and age groups. Results: Most of patients (73%) were overweight, nearly 70% patients suffered from sleep apnea and 40% from sleepiness. Overall, high neck circumferences, high BMI and frequencies of night awakenings were associated factors for the sleep apnea severity. Age, sleep duration, sleep latency, frequencies of night awakenings were associated factors with the sleepiness. Whereas, the significance of these factors varied from gender- and age-specific groups to groups.
Conclusion: Those who has larger neck size, overweight, higher severity of sleep apnea, should reduce body weight to improve sleeping qualities. It needs to be aware if the sleep apnea and sleepiness induces obstructive apnea, which could affect sleeping qualities and physical health in clinical care. It’s also important to clarify the risks of sleep disorders by evaluating the differences between the gender or among the age groups of those patients.Keywords: Sleep apnea, sleepiness, sleeping quality |
