excessive daytime
sleepiness

What is EDS?

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is defined as the inability to maintain wakefulness and alertness during the major waking episodes of the day, resulting in periods of irrepressible need for sleep or unintended lapses into drowsiness or sleep.*

EDS is present in all patients with narcolepsy and is one of the most common symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Common signs and symptoms of EDS include frequent tiredness, unrefreshing sleep, and brain fog. Patients may experience impaired attention, memory, and executive functioning skills. EDS may negatively impact relationships, job performance, and daily activities.

key facts

• EDS may go unreported because of chronic sleepiness being accepted as the “new normal”
• People with narcolepsy and OSA may see a variety of doctors including sleep specialists, psychiatrists, neurologists, pulmonologists, or primary care physicians who may use the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to evaluate how likely one is to fall asleep during daily activities

in a clinical research study with 822 patients newly diagnosed with moderate-to-severe OSA referred for positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment^§

*As defined by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).
^†A study of 174 patients with moderate-to-severe OSA using CPAP. Daytime sleepiness was assessed before and after 3 months of CPAP therapy using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
^‡Includes average CPAP use of 2 or fewer hours per night, up to 7 or more hours per night.
^§A study of newly diagnosed patients from the Icelandic Sleep Apnea Cohort identified subtypes of patients with OSA who experienced distinct combinations of symptoms and comorbidities. The percentages shown are for patients from the EDS subgroup (N=350).