EN
Sleep disorders are reported by up to 90% of the Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. The main causes of poor sleep quality are the altered dopaminergic transmission in the subcortical areas, playing role in the sleep wake regulation, the infl uence of dopaminergic medication and the negative effect of rigidity, painfull dystonias, and other motor symptoms of PD. The aim of this study was the objective polysomnographic assessment of sleep quality in PD with respect to the possible gender differences. We evaluated: seven female and 10 male PD patients (mean age 66.3 ± 9.2 vs. 63.9 ± 10.2 years; mean Hoehn Yahr stage 2.2 ± 0.5 vs. 2.3 ± 0.5 and mean UPDRS score 28.0 ± 9.3 vs. 33.9 ± 15.9) respectively, with no signifi cant differences between both sexes. The sleep was examined with nocturnal polysomnography and with two questionnaires – the Pitsburger sleep quality index (PSQI) and the Parkinson disease sleep scale (PDSS). Both genders showed worsened sleep quality. In particular the decreased sleep effi ciency (61.1 ± 17.5% women, 45.5 ± 23.9% men) and prolonged sleep onset latency (95.2 ± 101.6 min – women, 52.6 ± 77.7 min – men) showed marked differences with respect to estabilished norms for the Polish population. The statistical comparison of the polysomnographic parameters revealed no signifi cant differences between both genders. The poor sleep quality seen in our polysomnographic fi ndings stays in accordance with frequent complainings of disordered sleep among PD patients.