Table 1– Demographic and sleep characteristics of the study population

	Males			Females
	Controls	Apnoeic patients	p-value	Controls	Apnoeic patients	p-value
Subjects n	18	20		21	18
Age years	52.39±6.23	53.87±6.76	0.49	54.93±6.07	57.83±5.89	0.14
BMI kg·m⁻²	26.60±2.65	27.09±2.60	0.57	27.95±4.12	30.54±3.19	0.04
Apnoea/hypopnoea index	3.03±1.98	42.42±22.51	<0.01	1.63±1.52	32.14±18.47	<0.01
Minimum oxygen saturation %	89.00±5.03	80.80±8.08	<0.01	91.19±3.77	83.11±3.80	<0.01
Waist circumference cm	96.40±7.47	99.50±6.71	0.18	90.45±12.18	100.50±8.28	0.01
Sleep latency min	15.94±12.46	11.58±7.60	0.21	15.54±8.13	20.74±11.27	0.10
WASO min	66.75±29.94	110.00±49.59	<0.01	59.98±38.56	87.63±52.21	0.06
TST min	397.65±34.21	356.27±49.82	<0.01	405.93±40.49	372.81±53.91	0.03
TST %	82.56±7.16	74.16±10.61	<0.01	84.32±8.59	77.48±11.18	0.03
N1 %	14.11±3.56	21.98±9.11	<0.01	12.07±6.33	14.29±5.39	0.25
N2 %	64.71±9.61	55.47±13.53	0.02	59.59±7.39	54.20±10.49	0.07
SWS %	6.14±7.11	7.25±7.52	0.64	15.73±9.73	18.69±9.56	0.35
REM %	15.05±4.91	15.30±7.17	0.90	12.59±6.31	12.80±6.59	0.92
REM latency min	124.95±69.71	139.57±68.66	0.51	134.29±81.14	141.73±69.98	0.76
Blood pressure mmHg
Systolic	126.06±13.82	127.60±16.21	0.76	120.05±12.34	131.22±15.33	0.02
Diastolic	76.06±7.04	78.95±8.19	0.26	73.52±7.06	73.17±13.31	0.91
Hypertension^# %	22.2	25.0	0.84	23.8	44.4	0.15
Smoking current %	22.2	5.0	0.12	9.5	0.0	0.28
Lipid-lowering medication^¶ %	11.1	30.0	0.15	0.0	22.2	0.04
ESS	7.42±5.00	10.85±5.44	0.04	7.52±0.97⁺	11.12±1.06⁺	0.02

Data are presented as mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index; WASO: wake after sleep onset; TST: total sleep time; N1: stage 1 sleep; N2: stage 2 sleep; SWS: slow-wave sleep; REM: rapid eye movement sleep; ESS: Epworth Sleepiness Scale.^#: defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg or as the use of antihypertensive medication; ^¶: defined as use of statins and/or fibrates; ⁺: data are presented as mean±se.