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Emotional content of dreams in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome patients and sleepy snorers attending a sleep-disordered breathing clinic

Sam Fisher, Keir Lewis, I Bartle, R Ghosal, L Davies, Mark Blagrove Orcid Logo

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Volume: 7, Issue: 1, Pages: 69 - 74

Swansea University Author: Mark Blagrove Orcid Logo

Abstract

Study Objectives: To assess prospectively the emotional content of dreams in individuals with the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and sleepy snorers.Methods: Prospective observational study. Forty-seven patients with sleepiness and snoring attending a sleep-disordered breathing cli...

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Published in: Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
Published: Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 2011
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa9006
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Abstract: Study Objectives: To assess prospectively the emotional content of dreams in individuals with the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and sleepy snorers.Methods: Prospective observational study. Forty-seven patients with sleepiness and snoring attending a sleep-disordered breathing clinic, completed a morning diary concerning pleasantness/unpleasantness of their dreams for 10 days, and then had AHI assessed by a limited-channel home sleep study. Participants and groups: Sleepy snorers, AHI < 5: n = 12 (mean age = 51.00 years [SD 7.01], 7 males); AHI 5 -14.9, n = 14 (mean age = 49.71 y [9.73], 12 males); AHI >= 15, n = 21 (mean age = 56.33 [11.24], 16 males).Results: All groups reported similar numbers of dreams and nightmares during the diary period. The AHI >= 15 group were significantly higher on dream unpleasantness than were the sleepy snorers (p < 0.05); and when only males were analyzed, this difference was also significant (p = 0.01). As AHI in-creased across the 3 groups, there was a significant decrease in variability of dream emotions (Levene test for homogeneity of variance between the 3 groups, p = 0.018). Mean daytime anxiety and daytime depression were significantly correlated with mean dream unpleasantness and with mean number of nightmares over the diary period.Conclusions: Patients with AHI >= 15 had more emotionally negative dreams than patients with AHI < 5. The variation in mean dream emotion decreased with increasing AHI, possibly because sleep fragmentation with increasing AHI results in fewer and shorter dreams, in which emotions are rarer.
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Issue: 1
Start Page: 69
End Page: 74

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