Personality profiles in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Sleep Medicine
• Psychology

Background:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder.
• Personality traits may differ between individuals with OSA and simple snorers.
• The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a tool for assessing personality characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare MMPI responses between patients with OSA and simple snorers.
• To investigate potential differences in personality profiles.
• To explore the relationship between psychopathology and daytime functioning in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey of 94 treatment-naive SDB subjects.
• Data collected included clinical information, BMI, SF-36, Turkish MMPI, ESS, fatigue, attention-deficit scales, and polysomnography.
• OSA and snorers were defined by an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 0 events/h, with a threshold of 5 events/h used for classification.

Main Results:

• OSA patients exhibited significantly higher scores on hypochondriasis (Hs) compared to snorers (65.0 ± 12.0 vs 58.4 ± 7.9, p=0.01).
• A higher rate of clinical elevation was observed in OSA patients for psychopathic deviance (13.0% vs 0%, p=0.03) and Hs (26.1% vs 3.3%, p=0.01).
• Individuals with a disability profile (≥4 MMPI elevations) reported lower quality of life, higher inattention, fatigue, and sleepiness scores, associated with total MMPI scores.

Conclusions:

• Patients with OSA demonstrate significantly more hypochondriasis and psychopathic deviance personality characteristics than simple snorers.
• The severity of psychopathology may influence daytime functioning in individuals with SDB.
• These findings highlight the importance of psychological assessment in managing OSA and related sleep disorders.