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Natural evolution of sleepiness. A 5‐year follow‐up study in a middle‐aged population
Author(s) -
Martikainen Kirsti,
Partinen Markku,
Hasan Jóel,
Urponen Hélka,
Vuori IIkka,
Laippala Pékka
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1046/j.1468-1331.1998.540355.x
Subject(s) - medicine , spouse , depression (economics) , excessive daytime sleepiness , population , sleep debt , cohort , somnolence , epworth sleepiness scale , sleep deprivation , psychiatry , physical therapy , pediatrics , insomnia , sleep disorder , polysomnography , apnea , environmental health , sociology , anthropology , economics , adverse effect , macroeconomics , cognition
The prevalence and natural evolution of sleepiness were investigated in a 5‐year follow‐up study in a middle‐aged population in Finland. In the original study a structured sleep questionnaire was completed by 1190 subjects and a 5‐year follow‐up questionnaire was returned by 626. The prevalence of sleepiness, meaning here an unintentional tendency to fall asleep weekly in the course of everyday living, was 9.6% in the first survey and 10.6% 5 years later in the same cohort; 3.7% had been sleepy in both surveys. Sleep fragmentation, leg jerking and awakenings during sleep were common findings among sleepy subjects in both surveys. Shift‐workers and those who had irregular working hours ran a risk of chronic sleepiness. Sleepiness was also associated with poor subjective health, obesity, depression, nervousness and tension. In particular, chronically sleepy subjects had an increased risk of sleepiness‐related traffic accidents and premature retirement. Contrary to common findings from sleep laboratories, neither snoring nor self‐ or spouse‐reported breathing pauses during sleep were significantly associated with long‐term sleepiness in a non‐selected middle‐aged population. It is suggested that more attention should be paid to subjects suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness even if they do not have a history of respiratory or other known organic sleep disorder.