Epworth Sleepiness Scale and sleep studies in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is the major symptom of patients with ob structive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In this study, we examined the relat ionship between subjective EDS scored with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ES S), objective EDS measured with the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) and sleep variables evaluated with polysomnography for patients with OSAS, Subj ects were 10 patients (51.7 +/- 19.0 pears old). The average ESS and MSLT s cores were 10.6 +/- 5.6 and 7.7 +/- 5.6, respectively. There was no signifi cant relationship between ESS and MSLT. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test had a significant negative relationship with the number of awakenings and the apnea/hypopnea index. No relationship was found between nocturnal hypoxia a nd either ESS or MSLT, Our findings suggest that objective EDS in OSAS is r elated with fragmentation of sleep, and that several patients are not aware of their EDS.