By Mohammed A. Al-Abri, Published on 01/21/15

Background: Sleep patterns have changed continuously worldwide and it can be influenced by social, cultural, and environmental factors. These patterns may be associated with poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. The aim of the study was to investigate sleep patterns and quality in Omani adults using actigraphy. Subjects and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between June 2015 and February 2017. Four hundred subjects agreed to participate in the study (52% male, 48% female). Subjects were randomly selected and enrolled in the study among young adults and middle aged individuals living in the City of Muscat. Subjects were asked to fill-in Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Actigraphy was used to measure their sleep patterns for one week. Results: The mean age of participants was 32.80± 11.50 years. Four sleep patterns were identified: monophasic, bi-phasic (post-dawn), bi-phasic (afternoon siesta), and polyphasic (three sleep periods/24 hours). The study revealed that 35% of participants had biphasic-siesta sleep pattern, 28% polyphasic, 26% monophasic, and 11% biphasic-dawn. The biphasic siesta pattern was found to be associated with younger age group (25– 34 years) (P=0.001). Polyphasic sleep was associated with higher ESS score (P=0.001) but not with poor sleep quality (P=0.24). There was no significant difference in night sleep duration among all the sleep patterns (P=0.07) but the polyphasic sleep pattern had higher total 24-hour day sleep duration (P=0.03). Nearly 90% of participants practiced afternoon siestas with mean duration of 45± 43 minutes. Conclusion: The predominant sleep pattern among Omanis was biphasic-siesta and majority of people practiced afternoon siesta. Polyphasic sleep pattern is associated with daytime sleepiness.

It is suggested that a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night is needed for metabolism to work normally. The aim of the study was to determine the association of habitual sleep deprivation and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We conducted a case-control study comparing patients with T2DM with age and sex matched healthy controls. Standard sleep questionnaires (the Berlin and Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and a weekly diary were used by patients to self-report habitual sleep. A total of 172 diabetics and 188 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. There was a significant difference between T2DM and healthy controls in nocturnal sleep duration (p = 0.033). There was a significant association between nocturnal sleep duration of fewer than six hours and T2DM (χ2 = 14.0; p = 0.0001). There was no significant difference in daytime sleepiness and daytime naps between the T2DM and control groups (p = 0.452; p = 0.581, respectively). A nocturnal sleep duration < 6 hours is associated with T2DM.

Objectives: The Epworth sleepiness scale is a self-administered eight-item questionnaire that was developed as a tool to measure subjective sleepiness in adults. The validity of the Epworth sleepiness scale has been validated and tested in different populations and ethnic groups. However, it has yet to be validated or tested in an Omani or other Arabic speaking population. Thus, the aim of this study is to test the validity and reproducibility of the Epworth sleepiness scale in an Omani population.Methods: Subjects were recruited from the general population and were asked to participate in the study. The study enrolled 97 Omani volunteers and was conducted between May and October 2008. An Arabic version of the original English questionnaire was used. The study was approved by the Research and Ethics committee of the institution. Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient along with Bland-Altman plots were used to test the agreement between the Arabic and English versions of the Epworth sleepiness scale.Results: The study included a total of 37 males (38%) and 60 females (62%) with age ranging between 18-75 years. Concordance correlation results revealed a substantial concordance (RhoC) of 0.914, but one that does not approach 1 (95% CI: 0.881, 0.947). This results from both lack of perfect correlation (Pearson’s r=0.914) and bias (C_b = 1.000). The Bland and Altman’s limits-of-agreement measured at 0.000 (95% CI: -2.684, 2.684), indicating insignificant average departure from agreement between the two versions of the Epworth sleepiness scale.Conclusion: The results indicate agreement between the two versions of ESS (English and the Arabic)