Prevalence of mental illness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea - A cross-sectional study from Kashmir, India

The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of mental illness in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to examine whether patients with obstructive sleep apnea require screening for mental illness.

We performed polysomnography studies of patients that were referred from various subspecialty clinics in Kashmir from Jan 2020-December 2020. using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI plus) scale to make a psychiatric diagnosis. We administered the General Health Questionnaire - 28 (GHQ - 28), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) to patients. Descriptive statistics and correlations were used for data analysis.

182 patients underwent polysomnography, 85 (46.7%) of which were suffering from mental illness Based on the Apnea-Hypopnea Index score, 8 (4.39%) patients had mild, 35 (41.1%) had moderate and 42 (49.4%) had severe OSA. The mean GHQ -28 score was significantly higher in patients with Obstructive sleep apnea (p < 0.001) (11.34 ± 8.2) as compared to non-Obstructive sleep apnea patients (1.98 ± 4.38).

This study demonstrates the increased prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with OSA. Therefore, we recommend timely screening for any mental health issues in patients with OSA and necessary interventions to address the issues, thus preventing mental health morbidities in patients with OSA this would help subsequently in an improved lifestyle.