Abstract
Background: Diabetic patients are prone to obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS). OSAS has also been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. There is a paucity of data on this condition among diabetics in Nigeria. This study was carried out to determine the risk of OSAS among diabetics in Nigeria.
Methods: Diabetics attending the medical outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in South Eastern Nigeria were recruited into this survey. A modified version of the Berlin Questionnaire was used to determine the risk for OSAS and also obtain demographic data. Anthropometric and spirometric measurements were also obtained from all subjects. The survey was conducted over a 4 months.
Results: 114 diabetics were randomly recruited for this survey, 54 (47.4%) female sand 60 (52.6%) males. 66 (57.9%) of the subjects were hypertensive. The average age of the subjects was 55.5 years and the average duration of diabetes was 7.5 years. 63(55.3%) of the subjects were found to have a high risk for OSAS. there was no gender difference in the risk for OSAS. A high risk for OSAS was associated with increased BMI, increased neck size, hypertension, alcohol use and reduced PEF. The factors that significantly predicted a high risk for OSAS were a history of hypertension (OR 55), alcohol use (OR 9), increasing BMI (OR 2) and poor BP control (OR 2).
Conclusion: OSAS is often not diagnosed among patients with diabetes and the strong association between a previous history of hypertension and OSAS may be the reason for the increased risk of cardiovascular death among diabetics.
- © 2012 ERS
