University Hospital for Emergency Care, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Clinic of Neurology, Second Hospital of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2020 Sep 30;62(3):539-545. doi: 10.3897/folmed.62.e49694.
Cognitive problems in patients with obstructive sleep apnea have been suspected since the 1980s. Several studies have investigated different cognitive domains. A similar widespread survey has not been done in the Bulgarian population.
This study aimed to evaluate global cognitive functioning and memory function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and to examine the potential influence of comorbidities on cognitive functions.
The study examined the neurocognitive profile of 103 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with OSA and 31 healthy controls. A list of inclusion and exclusion criteria was developed. Sleep breathing was examined in both groups. The other methods were: a medical history of patients, clinical examination, neuropsychological assessment, statistical analysis.
The study found that the global cognitive functioning of patients with OSA and the memory function was impaired. Short-term memory has been found affected predominantly. Only obesity was distinguished as a major factor relevant to the severity of cognitive changes in the study group. A statistically significant difference between the groups with and without obesity was found for the applied memory tests, except for the delayed recall and word recognition. The duration of exposure to hypoxia and sleep fragmentation is important for the severity of cognitive deficits. The results confirmed this theory showing that this factor is among the major severity factors.
The study found that the global cognitive functioning of patients with OSA, as well as memory function, were impaired. The role of comorbidities is complex and far from clear.
自 20 世纪 80 年代以来，人们一直怀疑阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）患者存在认知问题。已有多项研究调查了不同的认知领域。但在保加利亚人群中，尚未进行类似的广泛调查。
本研究旨在评估阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停患者的整体认知功能和记忆功能，并研究合并症对认知功能的潜在影响。
本研究检查了 103 例新诊断为 OSA 的连续患者和 31 例健康对照者的神经认知特征。制定了包括和排除标准清单。对两组患者均进行了睡眠呼吸检查。其他方法包括：患者病史、临床检查、神经心理学评估、统计分析。
研究发现，OSA 患者的整体认知功能和记忆功能受损。主要影响了短期记忆。在研究组中，只有肥胖被认为是与认知变化严重程度相关的主要因素。在应用记忆测试中，发现存在肥胖和无肥胖组之间存在统计学显著差异，除了延迟回忆和单词识别。暴露于低氧和睡眠碎片化的持续时间对认知缺陷的严重程度很重要。结果证实了这一理论，表明该因素是主要严重程度因素之一。
本研究发现，OSA 患者的整体认知功能和记忆功能均受损。合并症的作用很复杂，远非明确。
