• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2014

Objective: Few studies have evaluated the personality characteristics of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and simple snoring. We investigated the personality characteristics of OSA and simple snoring patients and compared differences in personality between the two groups using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Materials and Methods: Two hundred and thirty-seven patients who were suspected to have OSA or simple snoring participated in this study. A self-questionnaire which included the EPQ was administered to all participants. All subjects underwent polysomnography in a sleep laboratory and those with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ${\geq}5$ were included in the OSA group, while those with an AHI <5 were included in the simple snoring group. Results: OSA patients had significantly lower scores for Psychoticism (F=4.563, p=0.034) than simple snorers. There were no significant differences in Extraversion (F=3.029, p=0.083), Lie (F=0.398, p=0.529), or Neuroticism (F=3.367, p=0.068) scores between the two groups. In the correlation analysis of the OSA group, AHI was positively correlated with Extraversion score (r= 0.16, p=0.029) and negatively correlated with Lie score (B=-0.31, p<0.001). Using multiple stepwise linear regression analysis with the four EPQ parameter scores as dependent variables, Lie score was associated with older age (B=0.14, p<0.001) and lower AHI (B=-0.05, p<0.001), Psychoticism score was associated with higher Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI ; B=0.14, p<0.001), Neuroticism score was associated with higher PSQI (B=0.34, p=0.001) and female sex (B=3.15, p=0.003), and Extraversion score was associated with younger age (B=-0.08, p=0.020) and higher body mass index (B=0.26, p=0.023). Conclusion: This study suggests that patients with OSA are significantly less prone to psychotic personality characteristics than those with simple snoring. Among OSA patients, higher AHI was correlated with low falsehood and high extraversion tendencies.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 2016

Background and Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is often undiagnosed but is an important risk factor affecting the health of an individual. The level of awareness of the illness among patients with OSA is low and is not correlated with severity of the illness. This study was conducted to compare awareness of OSA symptoms and illness between patients with OSA and simple snorers. Materials and Methods: Two hundred eighty-two patients who were suspected of having OSA participated in this study. All subjects underwent overnight polysomnography. Those with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ${\geq}5$ were classified as the OSA group, while those with an AHI < 5 were classified as the simple snoring group. A sleep questionnaire, which included items on awareness of the illness, OSA, and sleep symptoms, was administered to all subjects and their bed-partners. Results: Simple snorers were much more aware of their symptoms such as snoring, irregular breathing, and apnea than were patients with OSA. Bed-partners of simple snorers were also more aware of the participants' sleep symptoms than were partners of patients with OSA. However, the duration of OSA symptoms was longer in the OSA group. In the correlation analysis, the level of awareness of OSA symptoms was negatively correlated with AHI, age, body mass index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score. Among the sleep questionnaire and polysomnography results, only Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was positively correlated with level of awareness of OSA symptoms. The minority of the respondents had heard about the treatment methods of continuous positive airway pressure and oral appliance and preferred them as treatment options. Conclusion: This study suggests that simple snorers are more aware of their symptoms than are patients with OSA. A higher severity of OSA, represented by a higher AHI, is correlated with lower awareness of one's OSA symptoms.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.164-173
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• 2011

Objective: The purpose of this study was to perform gender-wise analysis of the related cephalometric factors affecting Korean patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: We examined 118 adults who had visited the Sleep Disorder Clinic Center in Keimyung university, Daegu, Korea, and evaluated them by using poly-somnography (PSG) and lateral cephalograms. The patients were divided into 4 groups (male simple snorers, male OSA patients, female simple snorers, and female OSA patients) according to AHI (apnea-hypopnea index) and sex. Results: The position of the hyoid bone in the female OSA group was inferior to that in the female simple snorer group. Multiple regression analysis showed that tongue length and soft palate width were significant determinants for the severity of AHI in male OSA patients. However, inferior position of the hyoid was a significant determinant only in women. Conclusions: From a cephalometric point of view, OSA in male and female adult patients may be characterized by different pathogeneses. In particular, in female OSA patients, they might be managed by individualized treatments such as hormone replacement therapy in addition to conventional treatment.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.45-51
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• 2006

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome disrupts normal sleep. However, there were few studies to evaluate the asymmetric distribution, the one of the important factors of normal sleep in OSA subjects. We hypothesized that asymmetry would be broken in OSA patients. 49 male subjects with the complaint of heavy snoring were studied with polysomnography. We divided them into two groups based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) fifteen: 13 simple snoring group (SSN, average AHI $5.9{\pm}4.4$) and 32 OSA group (average AHI $47.3{\pm}23.9$). We compared split sleep variables between the first half and the second half of sleep within each group with paired t-test for the evaluation of asymmetry. Changes of sleep architecture of OSA were higher stage 1 sleep% (S1), total arousal index (TAI), AHI, and mean heart rate (HR) and lower stage 2 sleep% (S2), REM sleep%, and mean arterial O2 saturation (SaO2) than SSN subjects. SWS and wake time after sleep onset (WASO) were not different between two groups. In split-night analysis, OSA subjects showed higher S2, slow wave sleep% (SWS), spontaneous arousal index (SAI), and mean HR in the first half, and higher REM sleep% and mean SaO2 in the second half. Those were same pattern as in SSN subjects. Mean apnea duration and longest apnea duration were higher in the second half only in the OSA. No differences of AHI, ODI, WASO, and S1 were found between the first and the second half of sleep in both groups. TAI was higher in the first half only in the SSN. SWS and WASO seemed to be influenced sensitively by simple snoring as well as OSA. Unlike our hypothesis, asymmetric distributions of major sleep architecture variables were preserved in OSA group. Losing asymmetry of TAI might be related to pathophysiology of OSA. We need more studies that include large number of subjects in the future.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.202-213
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• 2008

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the cephalometric measurements of obese and non-obese Korean male patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). Methods: Eighty-seven adults who had visited the Sleep Disorder Clinic Center in Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea were examined and evaluated with polysomnography (PSG) and lateral cephalogram. They were divided into 4 groups (non-obese simple snorers, obese simple snorers, non-obese OSA patients, obese OSA patients) according to AHI (Apnea-Hypopnea Index) and BMI (Body Mass Index). Results: The obese OSA group had the highest AHI among the 4 groups. The non-obese OSA group had a significantly steeper mandibular angle and shorter tongue length than the obese OSA group. The hyoid bone of the obese OSA group was positioned anterior and inferior as compared with the non-obese OSA group. Multiple regression analysis showed that tongue length in the obese OSA group and retroposition of hyoid bone in the non-obese OSA group were significant determinants for the severity of AHI. Conclusions: From a cephalometric point of view, the obese and non-obese pateints with OSA may be characterized by different pathogeneses. Therefore, they have to be managed by individualized treatment. For the obese OSA patients, weight control must be advised as a first choice and for the non-obese OSA patients, oral appliance, nasal CPAP, UPPP and others could be chosen according to the obstructive sites.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2014

Objectives: Several studies suggest that nocturia may be related to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The mechanism by which OSAS develops nocturia has not been determined. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of nocturia among adults with OSAS and to identify factors that may be predictive in this regard. Methods: Retrospective review of clinical and polysomnographic data obtained from patients evaluated at the sleep clinics of the St. Paul's Hospital between 2009 and 2012. The urinary symptoms were assessed on the basis of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Pathologic nocturia was defined as two or more urination events per night. OSAS was defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ${\geq}5$. A multivariate analysis using logistic regression was performed to examine the relationship between polysomnographic variables and the presence of pathologic nocturia, while controlling for confounding factor. Results: A total of 161 men >18 years of age (mean age $46.7{\pm}14.1$), who had been referred to a sleep laboratory, were included in the present study. Among these, 27 patients with primary snoring and 134 patients with obstructive sleep apnea were confirmed by polysomnography. Nocturia was found in 53 patients with OSAS (39.6%) and 8 patients with primary snoring (29.6%). The AHI was higher in patients with nocturia than in those without nocturia (p=0.001). OSAS patients with nocturia had higher arousal index (p=0.044), and lower nadir oxyhemoglobin saturation (p=0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that age (${\beta}$=0.227, p=0.003), and AHI (${\beta}$=0.258, p=0.001) were associated with nocturia, and that the presence of pathologic nocturia was predicted by age (OR 1.04 ; p=0.004) and AHI (OR 1.02 ; p=0.001). Conclusion: Nocturia is common among patients with OSAS. The strongest predictors of nocturia are age and AHI in patients with OSAS.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.218-230
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• 1999

Background: Craniofacial anatomic abnormalities related to structural narrowing of the upper airway have been reported in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. In this study, we evaluated the craniofacial anatomic characteristics of Korean patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and the role of cephalometric analysis in the prediction of abnormal breathing during sleep. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS), 39 simple snorers(simple snorers) and 20 controls(control) had cephalometric analysis using the technique of Riley et al, and underwent standardized polysomnographic recordings. Different variables, including sex, body mass index, cephalometric and polysomnographic data, were statistically analyzed. Results: Pm-UPW and V-LPW distances were significantly shorter in OSAS when compared with simple snorers or control. PAS in simple snorers was shorter than in control. ANS-Gn distance in OSAS was significantly longer than in control. PNS-P distance in OSAS or simple snorers was significantly longer than in control. MP-H distance in OSAS was significantly longer than in simple snorers or control and MP-H distance in simple snorers was also longer than in control. NL/Pm-P angle in OSAS was lesser than in control. MP-H distance in OSAS or in the combined groups of OSAS and simple snorers was significantly correlated with apneahypopnea index(AHI). PNS-P distance in the combined groups of OSAS and simple snorers was correlated with AHI. In male of all subjects, body mass index was significantly correlated with PNS-P or MP-H distance. Conclusion: Cephalometric analysis can be useful tool in determining the craniofacial anatomic abnormalities in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Cephalometric parameters, especially MP-H distance, can be useful for predicting frequency of narrowing or obstruction of upper airway during sleep.