Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Participants Website

Home & News

Welcome to the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Participants Website. This website is an online resource for the WSC participants to provide you assistance with: scheduling, directions, and general news about the WSC project.

About the WSC

When the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort began, over 20 years ago, very little was known about sleep apnea and little attention was given to sleep problems.

Today, the field of sleep medicine has grown tremendously, and the general public is more informed about the importance of sleep. The publications from the studies conducted by the WSC have played a large part in helping to better sleep and health, thanks to your generous contribution of time and effort in "sleeping for science".

The publication in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 (The occurrence of sleep disordered breathing in the general adult population) had world-wide recognition, showing that sleep apnea was far more common than previously believed.

The WSC has been continously funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which includes the following: Heart Lung and Blood, National Institute on Aging, Center for Health Care Research and Policy, and is additionally supported by the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

Selected Past Publications

The WSC has nearly 100 publications in prominent international journals. The most important papers can be viewed with this link: Highlights of WSC Past Publications (uses Adobe Reader).

How WSC findings affects US health care

* Our results have set guidelines for clinical definitions of sleep disorders

* Our sleep study findings have been the basis for forming Medicare reimbursement policies for treatment of sleep apnea

* Major contributions to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders manual, published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.