Sleep disorders and stroke: data of the esse-rf study

AIM: To assess the association between stroke and self-reported sleep disorders in the epidemiological studies of cardiovascular diseases in various regions of Russia (ESSE-RF). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire survey included unorganized male and female population, aged 25 to 64 years, from 13 regions of the Russian Federation. In the analysis, answers to the question related to history of stroke: 'Did the doctor ever tell you that you had / had the following diseases?' (the 'Diseases' module) were included. The authors also evaluated answers about sleep duration, insomnia complaints, and sleepiness (the 'Sleep assessment' module). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Of 20 357 respondents, 422 (2%) confirmed the history of stroke. Both short and long sleep duration were not associated with stroke. Complaints of sleep disorders (snoring, sleep apnea, difficulty falling and maintaining sleep, as well as their combinations) were more frequently correlated with stroke. After adjustment for gender, age, body mass index, office blood pressure, the regression analysis showed that odds ratio was not significant for all complaints, except the combination of sleep apnea with frequent daytime sleepiness (1.7 (95% CI 1.04-2.8) (p=0.034). Therefore, symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing and insomnia are more common in respondents with the history of stroke. The combination of sleep apnea and frequent sleepiness complaints may indicate more severe sleep disorders in post-stroke patients.