Sleep Disorders in Patients with Epilepsy.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Sleep Medicine
• Quality of Life Research

Background:

• Epilepsy significantly impacts patients' well-being.
• Sleep disturbances and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) are common in epilepsy.
• Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a potential comorbidity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of OSAS, sleep quality, and EDS in epilepsy patients.
• To explore the relationship between these sleep issues and quality of life.
• To determine correlations with demographic and clinical factors.

Main Methods:

• 111 epilepsy patients were assessed using the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) for OSAS, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31).
• Data collected included demographics, seizure characteristics, and anti-seizure drug use.
• Statistical analyses were performed to identify correlations.

Main Results:

• 36% of patients reported poor sleep quality, and 20.7% experienced mild EDS.
• A low risk of OSAS was identified in 89.2% of participants.
• Poor sleep quality and EDS showed a low negative correlation with quality of life.

Conclusions:

• Poor sleep quality and EDS are prevalent in epilepsy patients.
• These sleep issues, along with OSAS, do not correlate with demographic or clinical epilepsy features.
• Sleep disturbances are linked to reduced quality of life in this population.