http://www.medicaldaily.com/sleep-disor ... udy-302740
To find out the prevalence of sleep disorders in MS patients, Brass and his colleagues surveyed members of the Northern California Chapter of the National MS Society, who were recruited in 2011.
Of the 11,000 participants interviewed, 2,375 were selected for the survey. Consistent with the reported epidemiology of multiple sclerosis, the majority (81 percent) were female and white (88 percent). The mean age of the participants was 54.
The participants were asked questions about their sleep history and factors which would affect sleep, such as obstructive sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome.
Around 52 percent of the participants said it took them more than an hour to fall asleep and nearly 11 percent said they had to rely on medication to fall asleep. Close to 38 percent of participants screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea. While close to 32 percent were known to have moderate to severe insomnia, nearly 37 percent had restless legs syndrome. Moderate insomnia was experienced by nearly 25 percent of respondents.
A surprising find was that only around four percent of the patients reported being diagnosed with a sleep disorder by a physician even though close to 38 percent reported having obstructive sleep apnea. Other sleep disorders also showed poor statistics in diagnosis.