PUBLISHED! Circadian Sleep Disorders Network’s patient survey paper is available for free in Sleep Medicine X!
Check out results, some surprising, from hundreds of Delayed Sleep Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD) and Non-24 Hour Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (N24) patients. Several assumptions made by physicians in the past are called into question. Highlights include:
- 24% of Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder (CRSWD) patients took 10 or more years to receive an accurate diagnosis.
- Of the 55% of patients who tried light therapy, 30% are still using it. Only 13% of those who used light therapy said they achieved their desired sleep times. Thus, light therapy was not successful for most patients.
- A sizable proportion of people who tried phase-delay chronotherapy subsequently developed N24 disorder.
- More people suffered from Sighted Non-24 than previously thought.
- Current treatments did not appear to be helpful to a large percentage of our participants.
Sections include diagnosis, co-morbidities, treatments, and work and school accommodations.
We hope this data will stimulate research into causes and treatments of circadian rhythm sleep disorders.
