TY - JOUR T1 - Respiratory symptoms and risk for obstructive sleep apnea in professional musicians JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p2279 AU - Maria Antoniadou AU - Vasilis Michailidis AU - Eleni Perantoni AU - Diamantis Chloros AU - Athanasia Prinza AU - Theodoros Gegas AU - Venetia Tsara Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p2279.abstract N2 - Background: There is a controversy regarding the effects of playing wind musical instruments and singing on the respiratory system and the risk for nocturnal breathing abnormalities.The aim of this study was to detect the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and the risk for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in wind instrument players and singers.Patients - Methods: 30 professional musicians (age 37,7±8,9 years, BMI: 25,9±4,3 kg/m2, 25 wind instrument players in bands and 5 singers) completed a questionnaire on demographic data and respiratory symptoms and the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) for the assessment of the risk for OSA.Results: Wind instrument players (80% males, 36% smokers, 32% alcohol users) reported sinusitis (24%), heartburn (20%), throat clearing (20%), jaw problems (16%), cough (16%) and nasal catarrh (16%). Singers (60% males, non-smokers, 20% alcohol users) reported reflux symptoms (60%), hoarseness (60%), throat clearing (40%), sinusitis (40%) and nasal catarrh (40%). Of the musicians, 4 instrumentalists (16%) and 1 singer (20%) had a high risk score on BQ. There was no association between smoking and respiratory symptoms in both instrumentalists and singers. Smoking was positively correlated with alcohol consumption (p<0,01, r=0,537) and heartburn (p<0,05, r=0,441) in instrumentalists.Conclusion: Frequent respiratory symptoms and low risk for OSA were observed in wind instrument players and singers. Smoking habit together with alcohol consumption was common in instrumentalists, whereas singers adopted a healthier life style. ER -