To address sleep disorders in Latinos, the Cleveland Clinic recently added a Sleep Disorders Clinic within Lutheran Hospital, Ivanhoe Broadcast News reports.

 

For adults, getting less than seven hours of sleep per night on a regular basis has been linked to poor health outcomes. A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 66% of Latinos in the United States get less than seven hours of sleep per night.

 

What’s more, the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos found that up to 14% of Latinos have obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and depression, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

 

Additionally, about 44% of Latino patients say communication issues such as language lead to worse health outcomes, according to Ivanhoe.

 

Directed by sleep specialist Cinthya Pena Orbea, MD, the Sleep Disorders Clinic emphasizes understanding and addressing sleep disparities in Latinos by focusing on personalized treatment strategies and community engagement.

 

A study led by Orbea found that only 63% of Latinos who get a referral for a sleep study complete it. The clinic aims to change that by providing bilingual and bicultural services to help Latinos overcome barriers to treatment and improve health outcomes.

 

"We have people at the front desk that are Hispanic, so they are able to communicate easily,” Orbea told Neurology Live. “That is from the check-in and questions they may have at the visit and post-treatment, which is very important. This is why we have been working with different durable medical equipment companies to ensure that even the service there is provided in Spanish."

 

The clinic can treat various forms of sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia and more. Sleep studies take place in private, comfortable, suite-style rooms.

 

“They’re able to feel that provider-patient concordance which is very important,” Orbea told Ivanhoe. “The common comment that I get is they wish they could get [these] type of services from different specialties.”

 

To read more, click #Sleep Apnea. There, you’ll find headlines such as “Obstructive Sleep Apnea Associated With Increased Risk for Long COVID,” “Lack of Sleep May Worsen Inflammation in People With HIV” and “Poor-Quality Sleep Linked to Fatty Liver Disease.”