Prevalence of nightmares among patients with asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease.

WOOD JM., BOOTZIN RR, QUAN, SF, KLINK ME.: Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams 1993; Vol 3(4):231-241.

Abstract:

Clinical reports and some research have suggested an association between asthma and nightmares. Forty-eight patients with obstructive airways disease (OAD), including 21 with and 27 without asthma, were compared with149 sex and age-matched controls without respiratory disease. OAD patients with asthma reported approximately three times as many nightmares as controls or OAD patients without asthma (p < .01). OAD patients, whether with or without asthma, were nearly 3 times more likely than controls to report that their nightmares were a "problem" (p = .001). It is concluded that nightmares are more frequent among asthmatics than among either normal individuals of the same age and gender or OAD patients without asthma. Subsidiary findings indicated that OAD patients may exhibit elevated levels of psychological distress and anxiety, and that nightmare frequency declines with age.

Keyword Search:

Category: Dreaming (Physiology and Behavior) (this week only)
Back to NAPS Most Read

Abstract:

Clinical reports and some research have suggested an association between asthma and nightmares. Forty-eight patients with obstructive airways disease (OAD), including 21 with and 27 without asthma, were compared with149 sex and age-matched controls without respiratory disease. OAD patients with asthma reported approximately three times as many nightmares as controls or OAD patients without asthma (p < .01). OAD patients, whether with or without asthma, were nearly 3 times more likely than controls to report that their nightmares were a "problem" (p = .001). It is concluded that nightmares are more frequent among asthmatics than among either normal individuals of the same age and gender or OAD patients without asthma. Subsidiary findings indicated that OAD patients may exhibit elevated levels of psychological distress and anxiety, and that nightmare frequency declines with age.