Kitajima Tsuyoshi

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the continuity and effectiveness of oral appliances (OAs) for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a psychiatric sleep clinic, specifically focusing on mild cases and those with psychiatric comorbidity. METHODS: We retrospectively examined the medical records of 106 OSA patients treated with OA. Survival analysis was performed to assess the discontinuation of OA use. Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scale were obtained from medical records. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), measured by polysomnography (PSG), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were compared between diagnosis and after post-OA treatment if a second PSG for efficacy assessment was conducted. RESULTS: Among all 106 patients, Kaplan-Meier analysis estimated a discontinuation rate of 16.8% at 1 year. This tended to be higher for OSA patients with psychiatric comorbidity (22.7%) than those without (11.6%), though it was not statistically significant (P=0.08). The overall rate of improvement in CGI-I scale was 37.7% and was significantly lower in OSA patients with psychiatric comorbidity (25.0%) than those without (48.3%). Among the 74 patients who underwent a second PSG, AHI and ESS were significantly lower after OA treatment for the entire group and subgroups of OSA severity at diagnosis and psychiatric comorbidity, except for ESS in the moderate OSA severity subgroup. CONCLUSION: OA continuation was relatively good, and sleepiness was relieved by OA use, even in mild OSA patients and those with psychiatric comorbidity. However, the continuation and subjective improvement of symptoms were slightly lower in OSA patients with psychiatric comorbidity.

AIM: Sleep disturbance, a core feature of bipolar disorder, is closely associated with mood symptoms. We examined the association between actigraphy sleep parameters and mood episode relapses in patients with bipolar disorder. METHODS: This prospective cohort study analyzed 193 outpatients with bipolar disorder who participated in the Association between the Pathology of Bipolar Disorder and Light Exposure in Daily Life (APPLE) cohort study. The participants' sleep was objectively evaluated via actigraphy over 7 consecutive days for the baseline assessment and then at the 2-year follow-up appointment for mood episode relapses. The actigraphy sleep parameters were presented using the mean and variability (standard deviation) of each sleep parameter for 7 days. RESULTS: Of the 193 participants, 110 (57%) experienced mood episodes during follow-up. The participants with higher variability in total sleep time had a significantly shorter mean estimated time to mood episode relapses than those with lower variability (12.5 vs. 16.8 months; P < 0.001). The Cox proportional hazards model, when adjusted for potential confounders, demonstrated that variability in total sleep time was significantly associated with an increase in the mood episode relapses (per hour; hazard ratio [HR], 1.407; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.057-1.873), mainly in the depressive episodes (per hour; HR, 1.477; 95% CI, 1.088-2.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that consistency in sleep time might be useful, as an adjunct therapy, in preventing the recurrence or relapse of mood episodes in bipolar disorder. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.