Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is associated with deficits in verbal but not visual memory.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Although cognitive deficits are well documented in patients with sleep apnea, the impact on memory remains unclear.

Objectives

To test the hypotheses that (1) patients with obstructive sleep apnea have memory impairment and (2) memory impairment is commensurate with disease severity.

Methods

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy volunteers (apnea-hypopnea index <5 events/h) completed a test battery specially designed to differentiate between aspects of memory (semantic, episodic, and working) versus attention. Sleepiness was measured on the basis of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Oxford Sleep Resistance test. Memory performance in patients versus control subjects was compared (Mann-Whitney U test; P < 0.01, Bonferroni corrected for multiple com

SUBMITTER: Twigg GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2902762 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature