questionnaire which included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and questions on sleeping habits and patterns. RESULTS: 168 ATC and communicators participated in the study (46% response rate). Prevalence of EDS with an ESS score 10 was 63%. The degree of ESS scores is not significant across age and between males and females (Fisher’s exact=0.19, p  0.05). There is a significant difference between the ESS scores of shiftworkers compared to those who worked fixed hours (Fisher’s exact=0.041, p  0.0.5). There is no significant difference in the ESS scores of those who go on duty everyday compared to those who go on duty less frequently (coefficient=0.26). There is no significant difference between the ESS scores of those who go on 8 hour duties and those who go on 8, 12, 24 or 24 hours of duty. Common aids to sleep included watching television (56%),reading (45%), and internet surfing (5%). Common method to keep awake is drinking coffee (67%). CONCLUSION: EDS is common among shiftworkers and this is primarily brought about by disturbances in the sleep-wake cycle. Further studies are needed to evaluate current working practices and organization of shift work in the air traffic offices in the Philippines. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Air traffic controllers are exposed to the possible negative effects that bad work organization of shifts may have on on the cognitive function, psychomotor performance and health status and hence performance efficiency. DISCLOSURE: Eleanor Dominguez, None. SLEEP DISORDERS IN PATIENTS ON CHRONIC HEMODIAL- YSIS IN CENTRAL HARLEM Layola Lunghar MD* Sumit Mohan MD, MPH Helen C. Daniel MD Manasvi Jaitly MD John S. Schicchi MD Jen-Tse Cheng MD Harlem Hospital Center, New York, NY PURPOSE: Prior studies have shown an increased prevalence in sleep related disorders (SRD) in patients on hemodialysis (HD); the aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of SRD in our HD population. METHODS: Eighty one patients responded to a self-administered questionnaire to assess the prevalence of SRD from 10/2005 to 2/2006. Inclusion: maintenance HD for 3 months. Exclusion: psychiatric and cognitive dysfunction. Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) was used to evaluate subjective average sleep propensity during real-life situations, taken as an indicator of daytime sleepiness. Demographics, comorbidities, laboratory data and medications were obtained. RESULTS: We compared patients with ESS scores 8 (group 1) with scores 8 (group 2). There was no significant difference in terms of gender, race, prevalence of diabetes (62.5% vs.44.4 %, p=ns), hyperten- sion (84.6% vs. 80.9 %, p=ns), restless leg syndrome (67.2 % vs 50%, p=ns), secondary hyperparathyroidism (60% vs. 60%, p=ns), obesity (36.8% vs. 36.3 %, p=ns) and morning headaches (41% vs 15.3%, p=ns) between the two groups. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of anemia (86.5% vs 61.9%, p=0.02), witnessed apnea( 5.4% vs 22.7%, p=0.039),subjective daytime sleepiness ( 21.4%vs 45.5%, p=0.03),sleep paralysis (8.9% vs27%,p=0.04) and nighttime sweating (14.2% vs 36.3%, p=0.035). Dialysis dose delivered was measured by using standard kt/V and the mean ESS was noted to be significantly lower in patients with Kt/V 1.5(mean ESS in patients with kt/V 1.5 was 5.2 vs 8.2 in patients with kt/V 1.5, p=0.005). When ESS 8, snoring and difficulty sleeping were taken together as criteria to evaluate chances of having Obstructive Sleep Apnea only about 15 % met the criteria. CONCLUSION: In contrast to prior reports, when taking into account EDS, self reported SRD seems to be less prevalent in our population. Intriguingly, dialysis adequacy may play an important role in these findings. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Further studies with larger popula- tions and sleep studies are necessary to assess the clinical significance of this trend. DISCLOSURE: Layola Lunghar, None. SELF-REPORTED SLEEP DURATION AND OBESITY IN A POP- ULATION REFERRED FOR SLEEP EVALUATION Sally Ibrahim MD Darryl Thornton MD Ranju Chandrashekariah MD* Dennis Auckley MD Metrohealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH PURPOSE: Obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic worldwide. Increas- ingly, studies have suggested an association between obesity and insuffi- cient sleep. Most studies, however, have involved non-obese populations without known sleep disorders. We hypothesized that in patients referred for polysomnography (PSG), we would find a relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sleep duration. METHODS: A prospective study of adult patients undergoing PSG at an urban academic medical center during February and March of 2006 was performed. Sleep questionnaires, consisting of questions related to sleep duration and behaviors leading up to bedtime, were given to all patients. Self-reported sleep duration was categorically reported as  4 hours, 4-6 hours, 6-8 hours, 8-10 hours, and  10 hours. Demographic information was also obtained, including age, gender, race, and co-morbid conditions. Data were analyzed by multiple linear regression models generated in SPSS. RESULTS: 251 patients were available for analysis. Demographics: age 49 +/- 13 years old, 65% female, 46% Caucasian, 42% African American, 10% Hispanic. The average BMI was 39.5 kg/m2 and 92% were diagnosed as having obstructive sleep apnea. BMI was not predictive of total sleep duration in unadjusted (p=0.16) and adjusted analyses (p=0.46). How- ever, increasing age (p=0.04) and African American race (p0.001) were predictive of decreased sleep duration after adjusting for gender, caffeine and alcohol use before bedtime, co-morbidities, and the presence or absence of and severity of sleep apnea. After adjusting further for age, African Americans reported an average total sleep time less than Cauca- sians (odds ratio = 0.32). CONCLUSION: In our population of patients referred for PSG, we did not find a relationship between self-reported sleep duration and BMI, though the population was morbidly obese. However, African-Americans, regardless of their age, BMI, degree of caffeine or alcohol use and severity of sleep apnea, reported less average sleep duration compared to Cauca- sians. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Further work is needed to understand the effects this decreased sleep has on quality of life and to explore the reasons why this phenomena exists. DISCLOSURE: Ranju Chandrashekariah, None. A STUDY OF RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME IN PATIENTS HAV- ING IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN A TERTIARY CARE HOS- PITAL Sunad Rangarajan MBBS, MD George A. D’souza MBBS, MD Avinash M. Srikanth MBBS* St. Johns Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore, India PURPOSE: Up to 25% of patients in the West having Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) have been reported to have iron deficiency. RLS is a hardly studied, probably under-diagnosed condition in India. Its preva- lence in India is unknown. The purpose of our study was to find the occurrence of RLS in patients with iron deficiency anemia; to compare it with its occurrence among healthy people; and to find clinical correlates with the occurrence and severity of RLS. METHODS: Cross-sectional study at St. John’s Medical College Hospital. 64 consecutive adult patients with iron deficiency and 256 age and sex matched healthy participants were enrolled, interviewed and RLS was diagnosed based on the NIH/IRLSSG essential criteria. RLS severity was assessed using the IRLSSG scale. Hemogram was done in all participants and iron profile and Free Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin in all anemic patients. RESULTS: RLS was present in 6.25% of the healthy participants and 34.37% of anemic patients (p0.001). Chronic menorrhagia (p=0.008) and repeated blood donations (4 times) (p=0.004) were significantly associated with increased occurrence of RLS. RLS was associated with significantly delayed onset of sleep (p0.001); RLS severity correlated with sleep latency in anemic females (p0.001). RLS severity did not correlate with any hematological parameter indicating severity of iron deficiency. CONCLUSION: RLS was a common occurrence among healthy participants. RLS occurred at significantly higher rates among anemic patients than healthy participants. RLS severity did not correlate with severity of iron deficiency. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: All anaemic patients should be screened for RLS. DISCLOSURE: Avinash Srikanth, None. Wednesday, October 25, 2006 Sleep: Sleep Disorder in Diverse Populations, continued CHEST / 130 / 4 / OCTOBER, 2006 SUPPLEMENT 267S POSTER PRESENTATIONS