Abstract
Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnoea(OSA) is the commonest type of sleep apnoea. There is a scarcity of published data on OSA and its associated factors for Sri Lankans. An insight to OSA and its associated factors will further improve the treatment quality and patient's quality of life.
Objectives: To describe characteristics and associated factors of OSA patients referred to a sleep clinic in a health institution in Sri Lanka.
Methods: Patients suspected of sleep problems and referred to a sleep clinic in a hospital were accrued on consecutive basis. They were screened with sleep assessment to exclude other types of sleep disorders. Serum TSH and serum bicarbonate was assessed for other co-morbidities. The presence and severity of OSA was determined with full polysomnography and apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) was calculated. AHI values were re-categorized as normal (<5), mild (5-15), moderate (15-30) and severe (= or >30). Association was sought between BMI and AHI values using non parametric tests.
Results: The sample had 56 males (82.4%). Mean age was 47.8years (SD, 13.2). The mean BMI was 34.4(SD, 10.8), with a range of 22.1 - 74.1. Majority was either overweight (38.2%) or obese (55.2%) and all complained of snoring. Serum TSH and bicarbonate levels were normal for all patients. Mean AHI was 35.09(SD, 29.5). Higher BMI was significantly associated with higher AHI values (Spearman rho, 0.25, p<0.05). Half of the sample had severe OSA, 13.2% had moderate and 20.6% had mild OSA. Obese patients had increased risk for severe degree of OSA (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Majority of the sample had severe OSA. Obesity and overweight were significantly associated with severe degree of OSA.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015
