Book Review

Sleep and Quality of Life in Clinical Medicine

N Engl J Med 2008; 359:1637October 9, 2008

Article

Sleep and Quality of Life in Clinical Medicine
Edited by Joris C. Verster, S.R. Pandi-Perumal, and David L. Streiner. 533 pp., illustrated. Totowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2008. $189. ISBN: 978-1-60327-340-4

Anyone who has had even one poor night of sleep will immediately recognize the substantial impact of sleep disturbance on quality of life. Sleep and Quality of Life in Clinical Medicine explores this problem under a magnifying glass.

The first few chapters of the book provide an overview of the relationship between sleep and quality of life. The chapters that follow are loosely organized by type of condition: sleep, neurologic, psychiatric, substance abuse–related, cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, endocrine, oncologic, and infectious. Most chapters share a specified format, beginning with a summary and lists of keywords and learning objectives and closing with conclusions and a review of problems that need to be addressed in future research. This format provides a consistency that enhances the usefulness of the book. There is also consistency of content. Too often in books like this one, some chapters cover a few major topics comprehensively whereas others have only sparse material on a wide range of topics. In this book the authors and editors have achieved relative consistency of content.

Who will find this book useful? The primary readership should be sleep clinicians, researchers, and medical and postdoctoral students. The book's strengths include an easily readable style, with little medical jargon, and it is comprehensive yet concise. The first five chapters are among the best written, setting the stage for later chapters by defining quality of life in health, describing assessment and measurement tools, and summarizing categories of sleep disorders. Other notable chapters deal with quality of life in sleep apnea, multiple sclerosis, eating disorders, and cancer. Another major strength of the book, however, is also a weakness — although the book fully explores the relationship between sleep and quality of life, this specialized area of study is still in its infancy. Consequently, the data on quality of life are sparse for some of the sleep disorders and medical conditions described. Nevertheless, one would be hard pressed to identify a topic concerning sleep and quality of life that is not covered.

Clete A. Kushida, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
clete@stanford.edu