A pictorial Sleepiness and Sleep Apnoea Scale to recognize individuals with high risk for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a new pictorial form of a screening test for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) - the pictorial Sleepiness and Sleep Apnoea Scale (pSSAS). Validation was performed in a sample of patients admitted to sleep clinics in the UK and Switzerland.

Patients And Methods: All study participants were investigated with objective sleep tests such as full-night-attended polysomnography or polygraphy.

The use of an online pictorial Epworth Sleepiness Scale in the assessment of age and gender specific differences in excessive daytime sleepiness.

Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a non-specific but highly prevalent cardinal symptom of sleep disorders. We hypothesized that with modern media and an online pictorial Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) age and gender specific differences of EDS could be identified on a large scale. This could be helpful in the screening of patients with sleep disorders.

Developing a pictorial Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

Objective: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was designed to be self-completed by the patient. However, it may not be understood by all, and unrecognised problems with literacy can impair the process. The ESS has been translated into a pictorial version for use in those with normal or diminished literacy skills.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is associated with deficits in verbal but not visual memory.

Rationale: Although cognitive deficits are well documented in patients with sleep apnea, the impact on memory remains unclear.

Objectives: To test the hypotheses that (1) patients with obstructive sleep apnea have memory impairment and (2) memory impairment is commensurate with disease severity.

Methods: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy volunteers (apnea-hypopnea index <5 events/h) completed a test battery specially designed to differentiate between aspects of memory (semantic, episodic, and working) versus attention.

Health literacy in COPD.

If patients are to participate fully in their care and in the management of a long-term condition such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, good communication is essential. However, not all patients are able to use the written word and we need to be aware of the size of this problem and its implications for the way in which we give information and conduct medical consultations. The impact of health literacy on outcomes can be considerable and improvements can be made by being aware of the problem, offering information in several different forms, and by reinforcing the spoken word with pictorial images.

The determinants of therapeutic levels of continuous positive airway pressure in elderly sleep apnea patients.

We have examined the role of age on the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) levels required to treat two groups of elderly (n=70) and young (n=70) sleep apneic patients, matched for disease severity (apnea/hypopnea index), body mass index and neck circumference. Elderly patients required lower CPAP levels compared to young [mean (sd): 6.9(1.

Changes in brain morphology associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) causes hypoxemia and fragmented sleep, which lead to neurocognitive deficits. We hypothesised that focal loss of cortical gray matter generally within areas associated with memory processing and learning and specifically within the hippocampus would occur in OSA.

Methods: Voxel-based morphometry, an automated processing technique for magnetic resonance images, was used to characterise structural changes in gray matter in seven right handed, male patients with newly diagnosed OSA and seven non-apneic, male controls matched for handedness and age.