[Assessment of the degree of disability in narcolepsy]

This article sums up the scientific results of the past 10 years on narcolepsy reflecting its impact on socio-medical impairment of narcoleptic patients. Extensive epidemiological studies showed that major restrictions for narcolepsy patients are caused by daytime sleepiness and sleep attacks with consecutive cognitive and memory deficits high accident rates, personality, mood and sexual disorders. We suggest the minimum degree of impairment as a rule should be at least 50%, in case of drug-resistant cataplexy or permanent sleep attacks around 80%.