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Do nocturnal headaches matter? A prospective diary study on subjective sleep parameters in snorers and their bed
Stefan Seidel1, Sophie Frantal2, Sabine Salhofer-Polanyi3
1Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria Stefan.seidel@meduniwien.ac.at.
Background:
The objective of this study was to assess the influence of nocturnal headaches (NH) on subjective sleep parameters prospectively in habitual snorers and their bed partners.
Methods:
We recruited habitual snorers and their bed partners via newspaper articles. The participants completed a semistructured interview, filled in questionnaires about quality of sleep (PSQI), daytime sleepiness (ESS), depression (SDS) and anxiety (SAS) and they kept a 90-day headache and sleep diary.
Results:
Seventy-six snorers (25 female) and 41 bed partners (31 female) completed the study recording a total of 6690 and 3497 diary days, respectively. NH were recorded on 222 (3.3%) and 79 (2.2%) days in 32 (42%) snorers and 17 (41%) bed partners, respectively. Snorers with NH showed significantly higher PSQI (5 ± 3 vs. 4 ± 2, p = 0.004), SAS (38 ± 11 vs. 31 ± 10, p = 0.011) and SDS scores (39 ± 12 vs. 34 ± 10, p = 0.048) than snorers without NH. For bed partners with NH we found a significant female predominance (sex ratio f:m = 16:1 vs. 12:12, p = 0.005) and significantly higher SAS scores (38 ± 6 vs. 33 ± 8, p = 0.030) compared with bed partners without NH. The subjective quality of sleep in habitual snorers (p < 0.001) as well as their bed partners (p = 0.017) was negatively influenced by NH, but not total sleep time.
Discussion:
NH occurred in around 40% of snorers and their bed partners at least once during the 90-day observation period. Our results confirmed a negative impact on the subjective quality of sleep in both groups.
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