DAYTIME SLEEPINESS, SNORING AND GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX AMONGST YOUNG-ADULTS IN 3 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Objectives. To study the geographical variation in daytime sleepiness, snoring and disrupted breathing during sleep and to identify and comp are risk factors using the same method in four European cities. Design . A cross-sectional, multicentre epidemiological survey. Setting. Reyk javik in Iceland, Uppsala and Goteborg in Sweden and Antwerp in Belgiu m. Participants. A random population sample of 2202 subjects who parti cipated in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Main outc ome measures. Sleep disturbances and daytime symptoms. Results. At all the centres, 5% of the men and 2-3% of the women reported snoring eve ry night. Daytime sleepiness (DS) was more often reported in Uppsala [ odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval: 1.6 (1.2-2.1)] than in th e other centres, whilst daytime tiredness (DT) was most common in Reyk javik [OR 1.8 (1.4-2.1)]. Snoring was positively correlated with age, male gender and body-mass index in all areas. Symptoms of gastro-oesop hageal reflux were associated with DS: OR 2.6 (1.5-4.4) and DT: OR 4.5 (2.7-7.6) and disrupted breathing: OR 3.8 (1.4-10), DS and DT were re ported more often by women than by men. Conclusion. The prevalence of snoring was about the same in all four areas, whilst there was a geogr aphical variation in daytime sleepiness and tiredness, As complaints o f DS and DT and disrupted breathing were more common in subjects who r eported symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux, we suggest that polysom nographic studies comparing sleep patterns in adult patients with and without reflux should be conducted.