ABSTRACT

Impairment of continuity of the sleep due to arousals and stage changes commonly experienced by the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cause sleep problems associated with insomnia or hypersomnia. These resultant sleep problems lead to impaired quality of life in the patients with COPD. The aim of this study was to evaluate complaints related to sleep-alertness in the patients with COPD in the setting in which subjective sleep tests and polysomnography investigation using scales of quality of life are unavailable.

The present study included 70 patients with COPD (33 were men and 37 were women). First, the patients with symptoms of COPD were evaluated clinically and COPD was staged based on degree of restriction of airflow (GOLD 2011). Sleep-alertness situation of all patients was evaluated using Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Pittsburgh Scale of Seep Quality (PSSQ).

No statistically significant relationship was observed between stage of COPD and results of subjective sleep tests.

Although these results indicate that stage of disease does not impact sleepiness and quality of sleep in the patients with COPD, they support the fact that presence of COPD alone negatively affected quality of sleep.

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sleep disorders, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Scale of Sleep Quality, insomnia, daytime sleepiness