Same sleep disorder but different sleep patterns: individual differences in sleep health and depressive symptomatology in veterans with obstructive sleep apnea

Poor sleep health, a composite measure of key sleep characteristics, may relate to increased depressive symptoms among individuals treated for obstructive sleep apnea. The current investigation examined the association between sleep health and depressive symptomatology.

In a pilot sample of 13 symptomatic OSA military Veterans with adequate CPAP adherence (mean age = 54.8, 76.9% male, 100% White), empirically validated cutoffs were applied to actigraphy-derived sleep variables: duration, efficiency, timing, and regularity.

Participants with zero optimal sleep scores had significantly higher depressive scores (M = 19.0, SD = 3.0) than participants with 1 or 2 (M = 9.8. SD = 4.3, p = .016) and 3 or more optimal sleep scores (M = 11.3, SD = 4.9, p = .038).

These preliminary findings suggest that better sleep health was associated with lower depressive symptomatology. Future work should replicate these preliminary findings in a larger sample.