Effects Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome On Learning And Memory Function

Background and objective:Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS)is a common sleep disorder that often leads to cognitive impairment.Verbal fluency test(VFT),Auditory Verbal Learning Test(AVLT),Clock Drawing test(CDT)and Wechsler Memory Scale Revised(WMS-R)were used to evaluate the extent of cognitive impairment,including those of memory and spatial cognition,in patients with varying degrees of OSAHS severity.Methods:A total of 96 patients who were treated in the sleep center and examined with portable sleep screening instrument due to snoring in changshu first people's hospital from June 2017 to June 2018 were enrolled by sequential collection according to the inclusion criteria of this study.Based on their AHI,10 were classified as primary snoring,49 as mild and moderate OSAHS,and 37 cases as severe OSAHS.Medical history was collected;height and weight was measured;and VFT,AVLT,CDT,WMS-R were conducted by physicians in a quiet room.Self-rating Depression Scale was administered to screen for Depression.Results:1.The proportion of male OSAHS patients was significantly higher than that of females(P<0.05).2.Compared to the primary snoring group,OSAHS patients had higher BMI,longer years of snoring and older age(P<0.05).From the primary snoring group to mild-moderate and severe OSAHS group,AHI,ODI and TS90%all showed increasing trends among the three groups,meanwhile,LSaO2 showed decreasing trend(P<0.05).4.Compared to the primary snoring group,OSAHS patients showed decreased immediate recall scores in VFT and AVLT(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in scores among OASHS patient groups(P>0.05).5.With VFT score and AVLT immediate recall scores as the dependent variables respectively,two multi-variable regression analyses were performed:VFT score was positively correlated with numbers of years of education(r=0.451,P<0.001),and negatively correlated with age and numbers of years of past snoring(r=0.366 0.296,P<0.05);AVLT immediate recall total score was positively correlated with the numbers of years of education(r= 0.386,P<0.001),and negatively correlated with age and numbers of years of past snoring(r= 0.3410.278,P<0.05).6.After adjusting for years of education,age and years of snoring,with VFT score and AVLT immediate recall total score used as the dependent variables,the regression analysis suggests that VFT score was positively correlated with LSaO2(r=0.183,P<0.05),and negatively correlated with ODI(r=-0.202,P<0.05).The AVLT total recall score was negatively correlated with ODI(r=-0.196,P<0.05).Conclusion:1.VFT and AVLT hold clinical values for evaluation of impaired memory function in OSAHS patients 2.After adjusting for age,years of snoring and education,the memory function of OSAHS patients was positively correlated with LSaO2 and negatively correlated with ODI,suggesting correlations between recognitive impairments and nocturnal hypoxia.