In yesterday’s post I discussed a press release from GlaxoSmithKline on the impact of hayfever and other allergic rhinitis symptoms on sleep.
I didn’t mean to imply that lack of sleep is not a public health issue! There is no doubt in my mind that the fatigue and fogginess that can arise from poor quality sleep impacts on your abilities to drive, work and interact with people.
My concern is the methodology behind the linking of allergic rhinitis with poor sleep. The results of the study are based on self report. That means they asked approximately 1,000 people to describe their sleep and correlated this to their health. The trouble with using self-reporting is that it is entirely subjective. You may think you had a bad night’s sleep but you may have slept for longer or more deeply than you realised.
The only way to be conclusively prove that hayfever interferes with sleep is to conduct scientific or objective studies. These could take the form of a Polysomnogram study while the individual is sleeping. A polysomnogram records heart rate, brain and eye movement activity as well as breathing. This would provide clear evidence of sleeping problems. Another option would be to have the individuals perform tests that simulate driving or other day to day activities to determine if their performance has been impaired.
Intuitively I believe that hayfever and allergic rhinitis do interfere with sleep, and may even contribute to sleep apnoea, but I don’t believe that self-reporting provides sufficient proof of that theory. Just my two cents worth (except we don’t have two cent coins any more so I guess it’s my ten cents worth).
I didn’t mean to imply that lack of sleep is not a public health issue! There is no doubt in my mind that the fatigue and fogginess that can arise from poor quality sleep impacts on your abilities to drive, work and interact with people.
My concern is the methodology behind the linking of allergic rhinitis with poor sleep. The results of the study are based on self report. That means they asked approximately 1,000 people to describe their sleep and correlated this to their health. The trouble with using self-reporting is that it is entirely subjective. You may think you had a bad night’s sleep but you may have slept for longer or more deeply than you realised.
The only way to be conclusively prove that hayfever interferes with sleep is to conduct scientific or objective studies. These could take the form of a Polysomnogram study while the individual is sleeping. A polysomnogram records heart rate, brain and eye movement activity as well as breathing. This would provide clear evidence of sleeping problems. Another option would be to have the individuals perform tests that simulate driving or other day to day activities to determine if their performance has been impaired.
Intuitively I believe that hayfever and allergic rhinitis do interfere with sleep, and may even contribute to sleep apnoea, but I don’t believe that self-reporting provides sufficient proof of that theory. Just my two cents worth (except we don’t have two cent coins any more so I guess it’s my ten cents worth).
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