Cognitive Complaints in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Cognitive Complaints in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The study assesses cognitive complaints in newly diagnosed patients with obstructive sleep apnea with no medical-comorbity affecting cognition. Cognitive complaints will be compared to healthy controls matched on age, sex and educational level. Factors related to cognitive complaints will also be assessed, including anxiety and depressive symptoms, complaints of fatigue and sleepiness, quality of life, psychological coping strategies and objective measures of cognition. Patients starting treatment for sleep apnea (continuous positive airway pressure or mandibular repositioning device) will be reassessed on all measures after 6 months of treatment to study the impact of treatment as usual on cognitive complaints and its related factors.

Inclusion Criteria:

• native Dutch speaker
• estimated verbal-IQ of ≥80

Exclusion Criteria:

• other sleep disorder than obstructive sleep apnea
• substance or alcohol abuse (e.g. no more than three units of alcohol per day for males and no more than two units of alcohol per day for females
• diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder
• use of medication effecting cognition
• neurological disease, diabetes mellitus, hypo- or hyperthyroidism or lung disease (as checked by verbal report and medical records)