Sleep patterns of sober chronic alcoholics.

The somnopolygraphs of 26 sober chronic alcoholics were compared with those of an age-matched control group, after approximately 25 days of sobriety. The sleep efficiency index and latency to sleep onset were significantly disturbed in alcoholic subjects. There was a decrease in the number of REM episodes. Slow-wave sleep was unaffected except for an increase in the latency to stge 4 sleep. These findings are discussed in the light of previous research.