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Surgical treatment of the sleep apnea syndrome reduces associated major depression

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Abstract

Prior small and retrospective studies have indicated that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) disease-related psychiatric morbidity might be reversed by correcting the sleep-related breathing disorder.

To evaluate the effect of surgical intervention (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, UPPP) on associated psychiatric morbidity we prospectively evaluated a large cohort (n = 53) of OSA patients before and after UPPP.

Surgical intervention resulted in a significant reduction of depressive disorder (p < .001) in parallel with improvement of the sleep disorder. Our results show that sleep disturbance and reduced daytime alertness may be at least one of the factors behind depressive symptoms in OSA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/S, SE 413 45, Göteborg, Sweden

    P. Dahlöf

  2. Department of Oto- Rhino-Laryngology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/S, Göteborg, Sweden

    H. Ejnell

  3. Section for Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, NEUROTEC, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden

    T. Hällström

  4. Clinical Pharmacology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/S, Göteborg, Sweden

    J. Hedner

Authors
  1. P. Dahlöf
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  2. H. Ejnell
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  3. T. Hällström
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  4. J. Hedner
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Additional information

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (Grant No. 9892), the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation, Inga-Britt and Arne Lundbergs Research Foundation, Skandia Insurance Company, The Swedish Medical Society, and Gothenburg University Research Foundation.

Nils-Gunnar Pehrsson and Andreas Hagelin are gratefully acknowledged for skillful statistical assistance.

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Dahlöf, P., Ejnell, H., Hällström, T. et al. Surgical treatment of the sleep apnea syndrome reduces associated major depression. Int. J. Behav. Med. 7, 73–88 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327558IJBM0701_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327558IJBM0701_6

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