Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea in various epidemiological studies
| First author [ref.no.] (country) | Population Subjects | Age yrs | Criteria | Prevalence % |
| Lavie 9 (Israel) | 1262 M | 18–67 | AI >10, symptomatic | 1.0–5.9 |
| Telakivi 10 (Finland) | 1939 M | 30–69 | Snoring, EDS and RDI >10 | 0.4–1.4 |
| Gislason 11 (Sweden) | 3201 M | 30–69 | Snoring, EDS and AHI >10 | 0.7–1.9 |
| Cirignotta 12 (Italy) | 1170 M | 30–39 | AI >10, symptomatic | 0.2–1.0 |
| 40–59 | AI >10, symptomatic | 3.4–5.0 | ||
| 60–69 | AI >10, symptomatic | 0.5–1.1 | ||
| Stradling 13 (1991) | 893 men | 35–65 | ODI4 >20, symptomatic | 0.3 |
| ODI4 >10 | 1.0 | |||
| ODI4 >5 | 4.6 | |||
| Young 8 (USA) | 352 M | 30–60 | Hypersomnia and RDI >5 | 4.0 (M) |
| 250 F | 30–60 | 2.0 (F) | ||
| Gislason 14 (Iceland) | 2016 F | 40–59 | Habitual snoring, EDS and verification of OSAS in PSG | >2.5 |
| Olson 15 | 1233 M | 35–69 | AHI >15 | 4–18 |
| (Australia) | 969 F | AHI >10 | 7–35 | |
| AHI >5 | 14–69 | |||
| Bearpark 16 | 294 M | 40–65 | RDI >10 | 10.0 |
| (Australia) | Subjective EDS and RDI >5 | 3.0 | ||
| Gislason 17 (Iceland) | 555 Children | 6 months–6 yrs | Habitual snoring or apneic episodes, and ODI4 >3 | >2.9 |
| Ohayon 18 (UK) | 2078 M | 15–100 | N/A | 2.4–4.6 |
| 2894 F | 15–100 | N/A | 0.8–2.2 | |
| Kripke 19 (USA) | 165 M | 40–64 | ODI4 >20 | 5.4–13.2 |
| 190 F | 40–64 | ODI4 >20 | 2.1–8.3 | |
| Bixler 20 (USA) | 4364 M | 20–100 | AHI >10 and clinical criteria fulfilled with daytime symptoms | 3.3 |
| Subsample: 741 | 45–64 yrs: 4.7 | |||
| Duran 21 (Spain) | 1050 M | 30–70 | AHI ≥10 | 19 |
| 1098 F | 15 |
AI: apnoea index
EDS: excessive daytime sleepiness
RDI: respiratory disturbance index
AHI: apnoea/hypopnoea index
ODI4: oxygen desaturations >4% per hour
OSAS: obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
PSG: polysomnography
N/A: not applicable
M: male
F: female