The Epwortli sleepiness scale (ESS) is a short questionnaire designed to quantify subjective sleepiness.
No correlation was found between the ESS values and the selected paranieters of the PolyMESAM all-night sleep ventilation test (apnoea/hypopnoea index - number of apnoeas and hypopnoeas per hour, oxygen desaturation index - nurnber of saturation drops per hour, heart rate variation index number of heart rate changes per hour, Min Sa02 - mean oxygen saturation minima in percents) in a group of 41 men and 13 women (mean age 48.5+SD=9.2) with the sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS).
The mean ESS valne in patients with straightforward SAS was 11.1 (+6.1) while in the control group of 23 men and 6 women (iniddle age 47.3 +6.8 years) it was 6.5 (+2.2). There is a statistically significant diíference between the two (p<0.01). In the authors’ view, ESS is a useful instrument for testing subjective sleepiness in SAS patients.