HD-16: a new quality of life instrument specifically designed for insomnia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To design a new quality of life (QoL) instrument specifically for insomnia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Based on severe insomniacs' interviews, we have built a new quality of life scale that has been tested in one group of 240 severe insomniacs, in one group of 422 mild insomniacs and in one group of 391 good sleepers. Ten steps led to the construction of a specific QoL scale. RESULTS: Five dimensions have been validated as both relevant and independent from each other. Sixteen items out of the 43 initially tested were retained and significantly different within the groups in each dimension. Based on the 16 items selected, we called the scale Hotel Dieu 16 (HD-16). We have therefore verified the score's specificity (correlation score of +0.36) and the reliability of the scale (Cronbach coefficient alpha=0.78). CONCLUSION: HD-16 may be used as a focused instrument to better assess an insomniac's quality of life.

Sleep management and the performance of eight sailors in the Tour de France à la voile yacht race.

We observed how sailors manage their sleep and alertness before and during competition in a long-haul yacht race. Global performance of the teams was also recorded. We assessed eight sailors aged 21-30 years, split into four teams, who competed in the Tour de France à la Voile 2002 yacht race. Two phases of the race were examined: two legs in both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Sleep length, sleep debt, and sleepiness before competition and on board during the race were assessed using ambulatory polysomnography. Intermediate and final rankings were considered as a reflection of performance. A significant correlation was observed between the sleep debt before competition and the total sleep time on board during the Atlantic legs. The greater the sleep debt, the more sleepy the participants were. During the Mediterranean legs, almost all the sailors were deprived of sleep and slept during the daytime competitions. We observed that the final ranking in the race related to the sleep management strategy of the participants. In extreme competitive conditions, the effect of a good night's sleep before competition on performance is important. The strategy of the winners was to get sufficient sleep before each leg so as to be the most alert and efficient during the race.