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Measurement of dyspnea in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

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Abstract

Purpose

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) frequently complain of exertional dyspnea. We aimed to assess its related factors and the significance of its measurement in OSA.

Methods

We evaluated 301 subjects with suspected OSA for dyspnea during activities of daily living using the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale. We analyzed the relationships between MRC grades and various subjective and objective indices. Further, the relationship of disease severity based on the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) with these indices was examined. Results were compared between those obtained using MRC grades and the AHI.

Results

Of 301 subjects, 265 were diagnosed with OSA. Their MRC scores were worse than in non-OSA patients. Among OSA patients, 125 had MRC grade 1 (mild), 121 had MRC grade 2 (moderate), and 19 had MRC grade 3 or more (severe) dyspnea. Various measurements differed significantly between groups categorized according to the MRC scale although determinants between mild and moderate groups and between moderate and severe groups differed. AHI categorizations were not significantly related to patient-reported measurements such as the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores, unlike categorization based on the MRC scale.

Conclusions

Dyspnea is an important outcome in OSA although dyspnea in OSA patients is unrelated to the sleep disorder per se. Measurement of dyspnea in patients with OSA might provide further insights into the health of these patients and clinical manifestations of this disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grants from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (nos. 22249031, 22590860, 22590862, and 23659109) and the Respiratory Failure Research Group and Health Science Research Grants (Comprehensive Research on Life-Style Related Diseases including Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes Mellitus) from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Conflict of interest

The Department of Respiratory Care and Sleep Control Medicine is funded by endowments from Philips-Respironics, Teijin Pharma, and Fukuda Denshi to Kyoto University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Kensaku Aihara, Yuichi Chihara, Yuka Harada, Kimihiko Murase, Yoshiro Toyama, Kiminobu Tanizawa, Tomohiro Handa & Michiaki Mishima

  2. Department of Respiratory Care and Sleep Control Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Toru Oga, Chikara Yoshimura, Takefumi Hitomi & Kazuo Chin

  3. Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Minami-Kyoto Hospital, 11 Naka-ashihara, Jōyō, 610-0113, Japan

    Tomomasa Tsuboi

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  1. Kensaku Aihara
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  2. Toru Oga
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Correspondence to Toru Oga.

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Aihara, K., Oga, T., Yoshimura, C. et al. Measurement of dyspnea in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Breath 17, 753–761 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0759-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0759-2

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