Citation

Naismith S, Winter V, Gotsopoulos H, Hickie I, Cistulli P. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 2004; 26(1): 43-54.

Affiliation

School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Sharon_Naismith@wsahs.nsw.gov.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1076/jcen.26.1.43.23929

PMID

14972693

Abstract

This study evaluated the relationship between neuropsychological and affective functioning, subjective sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing in 100 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Using principal components analysis, three indices of sleep-disordered breathing were identified from polysomnography: sleep disturbance, extent of nocturnal hypoxemia, and sleep quality. Poorer sleep quality was related to slower processing speed, somatic symptomatology and tension-anxiety levels. Nocturnal hypoxemia was related to visuconstructional abilities, processing speed and mental flexibility. Patients who had high levels of subjective sleepiness had poorer performances on a complex task of executive functioning and higher levels of tension-anxiety. These results imply a differential effect of sleep-disordered breathing on domains of neuropsychological functioning. Additionally, they suggest that a patient's subjective level of sleepiness is a good predictor of certain aspects of neurobehavioral functioning.

Language: en