Although it remains unclear how the conditions are linked, Maurice Ohayon, MD, PhD, said his study should encourage physicians to test depressed patients for this type of sleep disorder.

"Physicians who see people with depression shouldn't stop at the first diagnosis, but instead look into the presence of a breathing-related sleep disorder," said Ohayon, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. His study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

These disorders include such breathing anomalies as chronic, disruptive snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, a disorder in which people stop breathing for brief periods up to hundreds of times a night. Left untreated, the disorders can lead to hypertension, stroke and cognitive deterioration. They can also affect a person's daily routine and disrupt his or her familial, social and professional life.

"This type of disorder increases a person's chances of feeling sleepy and irritable, having a dispute with a family member or colleague, or getting into a traffic accident," said Ohayon.

Several studies have suggested that sleep apnea is associated with a higher rate of depressive disorder and that treating sleep apnea could help control depression in patients. But no previous study had explored this association and its risk factors in the general population.

To assess the impact of the two disorders in the general population, Ohayon conducted a telephone survey with adults in five countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain). More than 18,000 people were chosen as a representative sample of 206 m
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Contact: Michelle Brandt
mbrandt@stanford.edu
Stanford University Medical Center
6-Nov-2003