Characteristics of Emotion and Personality in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients with Insomnia Symptoms: Analysis of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and insomnia are two of the most common sleep disorders in the general population. Because OSAHS patients with insomnia may have difficulty in adapting to the sleep breathing medical equipment, it is necessary to pay special attention to the diagnosis and treatment of comorbid insomnia. This study is to investigate the emotion and personality in OSAHS patients with insomnia complaints by using Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). METHODS: We reviewed the results of the standardized questionnaires assessing sleep-related variables, MMPI, and polysomnographic findings of the patients diagnosed as OSAHS. RESULTS: 145 subjects were 49.05+/-11.83 years of age. The mean Respiratory Disturbance Index was 33.57+/-19.91 and the mean score of Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was 11.52+/-6.49. The mean scores of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and MMPI-2 were within normal ranges. We divided the patients into two groups based on the scores of the ISI, OSAHS with insomnia (n=109) and OSAHS without insomnia (n=36). OSAHS patients with insomnia symptoms had significantly higher scores of hypochondriasis, hysteria, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, paranoia and psychopathic deviate scales and BDI than those without insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that insomnia complaints are very common in OSAHS patients and the psychological problems are more frequently found in OSAHS patients with insomnia symptom than those without it.