May 2012
Section Bulletin Online Now
The Spring edition of our Section Bulletin is ONLINE NOW, so click over to read informative articles on providing free sleep testing to hospital staff, using Google Translate to communicate with non-English speaking patients, and shift work fatigue and what to do about it.
Share Your Research at the 2012 Open Forum
The Open Forum at AARC Congress 2012 presents the perfect opportunity to share clinical research related to sleep. If you have a study you’d like to get out to the RT community, consider SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT by June 1.
Home Sleep Testing May Help Identify Truck Drivers with OSA
At-home sleep testing is significantly more effective in identifying truck drivers who are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) than symptom reports. Australian researchers arrived at that conclusion after conducting interviews with 517 long distance commercial vehicle drivers about their sleep problems and then subjecting them to an overnight home sleep test using a flow monitor. Only 4.4% of the drivers reported a diagnosis of OSA and only 12% reported daytime sleepiness during the interviews, but the home diagnostic test revealed 41% of those not previously diagnosed with OSA were likely to have the condition. “Objective testing for this sleep disorder needs to be considered, as symptom reports and self-identification appear insufficient to accurately identify those at risk,” write the authors. The study appeared in the April 1 edition of Sleep. READ ABSTRACT
One Month of OSA May Be Enough to Impact Cerebral Vessels
Baylor College of Medicine researchers have developed a new animal model of OSA that induces true apnea, thus incorporating all physiological consequences involved in OSA and creating a more complete picture of the apnea process and how it unfolds in humans. The investigators used the model to induce 30 apneas per hour in animals during eight hour sleep cycles over one month to see how quickly OSA may impact the cerebral vessels. After one month of apnea, cerebral vessel dilatory function was reduced by up to 22%, a finding the investigators say correlates with studies that show similar cell dysfunction in arteries and an increased risk of stroke in OSA patients. The study was presented at a recent meeting of the American Physiological Society. READ PRESS RELEASE
Sleep Apnea-Plus: Common in the U.S.
Canadian researchers who examined data from the 2005-2008 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys find people with sleep apnea are significantly more likely than those without sleep apnea to also suffer from insomnia, 43% vs. 30%. Among people with sleep apnea, women were more likely to report insomnia, as were those with symptoms of depression. Those over age 60 and those with morbid obesity were less likely to have insomnia along with their sleep apnea. Hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke were similar between the sleep apnea-alone and sleep apnea-plus patients. “Given the elevated rates of cardiovascular diseases among individuals with sleep apnea-plus, along with their known poor CPAP compliance, identification of individuals with sleep apnea-plus and treatment of their concomitant insomnia is important,” write the authors. The study was published ahead of print by Sleep Medicine on April 3. READ ABSTRACT
Ambient Temperature and its Effect on OSA
Researchers publishing in the April 1 edition of Sleep noted conflicting results in a study on the effect of ambient temperatures on sleep outcomes. While patients with OSA slept longer, had better sleep efficiency, and were more alert in the morning after sleeping in a room where the temperature was set at 16 degrees C than a room set at either 20 or 24 degrees C, the apnea-hypopnea index went up as the temperature of the room went down—24 at 24 degrees vs. 28 at 20 degrees vs. 30 at 16 degrees. The study involved 40 patients who had yet to be treated for their OSA. Each underwent testing on three different nights at the three different room temperatures. READ ABSTRACT
