Ethnic Features of Sleep Disorders in Women in the Climacteric Period

Abstract

Objectives. To assess the features of sleep disorders in europeoid and mongoloid women in different phases of the climacteric period. Materials and methods. A total of 542 women in the climacteric period at age 45–60 years were studied: 342 were of the europeoid race (ethnic group – Russian) and 200 were of the mongoloid race (ethnic group – Buryats). All women underwent examination by a gynecologist, with general clinical assessment and analysis of medical records. Diagnoses of insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) were made in accordance with questionnaire results using specialist somnology questionnaires and polysomnographic monitoring. Results and conclusions. The prevalence of sleep disorders in Russian women in the perimenopausal period was 61.2%, compared with 65.5% in the postmenopausal period; among Buryats, 63.5% had sleep disorders in the perimenopausal period and 72.9% in the postmenopausal period. The structure of sleep disorders in Russian women in the perimenopause period was dominated by difficulty in going to sleep (69.4%) and morning waking (63.5%), while in the menopause the structure consisted mainly of frequent nocturnal waking (83.5%) and OSAS (48.9%). In Buryats, the structure of sleep disorders was independent of the phase of the climacteric, with complaints most frequently consisting of nocturnal waking (69.5% in the perimenopause and 76.9% in the postmenopausal period). Interethnic differences in complaints of sleep disorders were seen only in the perimenopausal period. The sleep pattern demonstrated decreases in measures of sleep effectiveness and changes in the content of rapid eye movement sleep in women of the Buryat ethnic group as compared with members of the Russian ethnic group. furthermore, ethnic Buryat women had a higher index of apnea/hypopnea and a lower mean oxygensaturation. Thus, formation of sleep disorders in women in different phases of the climacteric period has ethnogenetic characteristics.