Subjective sleep quality and mental fitness in asthmatic patients.

Asthmatic patients from our outpatient pulmonary clinic were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their sleep and daytime fitness. Seventy-eight responded. Sixty-five healthy persons served as a control group. Patients reported decreased sleep quality, decreased daytime mental fitness, and increased daytime somnolence. There was no relation between these features and lung function, bronchial hyperreactivity, or nocturnal asthma. We conclude that these asthmatic patients reported more sleep disturbances and daytime somnolence than healthy control persons.