Purpose. To investigate sleep quality of hospital staff nurses, both by subjective questionnaire and objective measures. Methods. Female staff nurses at a regional teaching hospital in Northern Taiwan were recruited. The Chinese version of the pittsburgh sleep quality index (C-PSQI) was used to assess subjective sleep quality, and an electrocardiogram-based cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) techni...

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that socioeconomic status (SES) would be associated with sleep quality measured objectively, even after controlling for related covariates (health status, psychosocial characteristics). Epidemiological studies linking SES and sleep quality have traditionally relied on self-reported assessments of sleep. METHODS Ninety-four women, 61 to 90 years of age, partici...

To investigate the effects of real-life stress on the sleep of adolescents, we performed a repeated-measures study on actigraphic sleep estimates and subjective measures during one regular school week, two stressful examination weeks and a week's holiday. Twenty-four adolescents aged 17.63 ± 0.10 years (mean ± standard error of the mean) wore actigraphs and completed diaries on subjective stres...

Sleep reduction is associated with increased energy intake and weight gain, though few studies have explored the relationship between sleep architecture and energy balance measures in the context of experimental sleep restriction. Fourteen males and 13 females (body mass index: 22-26 kg/m(2)) participated in a crossover sleep curtailment study. Participants were studied under two sleep conditio...

BACKGROUND While obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is defined by both polysomnographic (PSG) abnormalities and symptoms, severity is quantified primarily by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) alone. OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between standard PSG indices (AHI and others) and self-reported sleepiness, mental health status, and general health in patients with sleep apnea. DESIGN Cross-...

Sleep problems, which can have significant clinical and economic consequences, are more common among alcoholics than among nonalcoholics. During both drinking periods and withdrawal, alcoholics commonly experience problems falling asleep and decreased total sleep time. Other measures of sleep are also disturbed. Even alcoholics who have been abstinent for short periods of time (i.e., several we...

BACKGROUND Subjective and objective measures of poor sleep in alcoholic insomniacs predict relapse to drinking. Nonalcoholic insomniacs underestimate their total sleep time (TST) and overestimate their sleep onset latency (SOL) and wake time after sleep onset (WASO) compared with polysomnography (PSG). This study evaluated 3 hypotheses: (1) subjective SOL would predict frequency of future drink...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of eszopiclone 3 mg, a nonbenzodiazepine medication/hypnotic indicated for the treatment of insomnia with comorbid rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHOD This multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study was conducted in 153 patients aged 25-64 years with American College of Rheumatology-defined RA who met DSM-IV criteria for insomnia. The...

OBJECTIVE The present investigation was designed to explore the role and implications of both daytime sleepiness and fatigue in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with respect to sleep, perceived health quality, and psychological functioning. METHODS Our participants consisted of two groups: 124 older community volunteers who completed a polysomnographic sleep study and were diagnosed with slee...

INTRODUCTION Sleep in intensive care unit (ICU) patients is severely altered. In a large proportion of critically ill patients, conventional sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns are replaced by atypical sleep. On the other hand, some non-sedated patients can display usual sleep EEG patterns. In the latter, sleep is highly fragmented and disrupted and conventional rules may not be optimal. ...