ORIGINAL ARTICLE Personality profiles in patients with obstructive sleep apnea Aydanur Ekici & Mehmet Ekici & Ömer Oğuztürk & Işıl Karaboğa & Dilay Çimen & Erol Senturk Received: 24 November 2011 / Revised: 4 March 2012 / Accepted: 8 March 2012 / Published online: 25 March 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012 Abstract Objective The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) responses between snorers and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be different. Thus, we compared the MMPI responses between snorers and OSA. Design A clinical-based cross-sectional survey. Participants This is a survey of 94 treatment-naive sleep- disordered breathing (SDB) subjects. Method Clinical information, body mass index (BMI), 36-item Short Form Health Survey, the Turkish version of the MMPI, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), fatigue scale, attention-deficit scale, and polysomnography were collected. All patients with OSA and snorers was accepted as individuals with SDB (AHI>0 events/h). The threshold of five apnea and hypopnea per hour of sleep was chosen to define both OSA and snorers. Disability profile is consisting of four or more MMPI clinical scale elevations. Results OSA patients compared to snorers have significantly higher absolute scores on hypochondriasis (Hs) (65.0±12.0 vs 58.4±7.9, p 0 0.01, respectively). OSA patients compared to snorers have significantly higher rate of clinical elevation on both psychopathic deviance (13.0 vs 0%, p 0 0.03, respectively) and Hs (26.1 vs 3.3%, p 0 0.01, respectively). People with disability profile has lower the quality of life, a higher score for inattention, a higher fatigue scores, and higher sleepiness scores. The quality of life and attention deficit and daytime sleepiness scores were associated with total MMPI absolute score in individuals with SDB in bivariate analyses. Conclusion Present study indicated that patients with OSAS compared to snorers displayed significantly more hyop- chondriasis and psychopathic deviance personality charac- teristics. The daytime functions in individuals with sleep- disordered breathing may be influenced by the severity of psychopathology. Keywords Snorers . Obstructive sleep apnea . Personality characteristics . Quality of life Introductıon Sleep disorders are very prevalent in the general population and are associated with significant medical, psychological, and social disturbances [1]. In recent years, a number of studies have attempted to characterize psychological disturbances re- lated to various sleep disorders. After treatment, depression scores may or may not improve to the level of population norms, suggesting that this relationship is more complex than one of mere cause and effect [2]. The disturbance of sleep quality and continuity that is associated with many sleep dis- orders predisposes to the development or exacerbation of psychological distress and mental illness. Likewise, the pres- ence of psychiatric illness may complicate the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders [3]. Sleep apnea can lead to serious health consequences, including marked psychological distress A. Ekici : M. Ekici (*) : D. Çimen : E. Senturk Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Kirikkale University Faculty of Medicine, Ziya Gökalp Cad. Fabrikalar Mah. Umut Sitesi D blok. Daire: 1, 07100 Kirikkale, Turkey e-mail: mehmetekici_@hotmail.com Ö. Oğuztürk Department of Psychiatry Diseases, Kirikkale University Faculty of Medicine, Kirikkale, Turkey I. Karaboğa Department of Psychiatry Diseases, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey Sleep Breath (2013) 17:305–310 DOI 10.1007/s11325-012-0691-5