Health-related quality of life in obstructive sleep apnoea

The identification of the areas of quality of life (QoL) most likely to be affected by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) would be an important step in the evaluation of the impact of the disease and its treatment modalities. The objective of this study was to describe the impact of OSA on patients' QoL. A list of 186 items potentially related to QoL of patients with OSA was constructed. From this list, consecutive patients were asked, at the time of the diagnosis, to identify the most significant items and to grade their importance on a 5-point scale. The item impact was determined from the proportion of patients who identified it as important, and the mean importance score attributed to this item (impact score=frequency x importance). One hundred patients (82 male; mean age: 51 yrs) were interviewed. The items having the most important impact on QoL clustered into five domains: 1) daytime symptoms; 2) nocturnal symptoms; 3) limitation of activities; 4) emotions; and 5) interpersonal relationships. The impact of obstructive sleep apnoea on quality of life is not limited to excessive daytime sleepiness. Obstructive sleep apnoea significantly contributes to the impairment of all domains of what is usually referred to as "health-related quality of life".