Effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on daytime alertness and cognitive performance of healthy snorers and non-snorers

Background: Respiratory events during sleep usually lead to micro arousals resulting in consecutive daytime sleepiness even in healthy snorers. The present study investigated the evolution of subjective and objective daytime sleepiness and reaction time in healthy snorers submitted to acute and chronic sleep deprivation. Methods: Objective sleepiness was measured by the MSLT, subjective sleepiness by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and reaction time (RT) by the Psychomotor Vigilance Test. Mean sleep latencies, KSS scores and performance were analyzed through repeated measures ANOVAs with one between-factor (snorers and non-snorers) and two within-factors (sleep deprivation [baseline, acute, and chronic sleep deprivation] and time-of-day). Results: The findings reveal that sleep deprivation does not enhance snoring but that, during baseline, objective daytime sleepiness is higher in snorers than in non-snorers (shorter sleep latencies) with no difference in subjective assessments. The effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on sleep are similar in both groups, but, after acute sleep deprivation, RT and attentional lapses (RT >500 ms) are higher in snorers. Chronic sleep deprivation produces similar results in both groups. Conclusion: These results suggest that respiratory efforts may be involved in the increased vulnerability to sleep deprivation of healthy snorers when compared to non-snorers. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.