engleski

Age and gender related effects on the risk for OSA and daytime sleepiness - a large population study

Objectives/Introduction: Numerous epidemiological studies have shown the varying prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among different age groups of the general population, with an in- creased prevalence in the elderly. Considering the expensive and time-consuming OSA diagnostic procedures, appropriate assess-ment of the OSA risk with reliable screening tools is essential. However, age-related effects on the risk for OSA and one of its hall-mark features, excessive daytime sleepiness, remain controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the risk for OSA and daytime sleepiness in a large population sample, with regard to age and gender. Methods: A large population sample included 14606 respondents (45.32% men) from Western Herzegovina, with the median age of 32 (IQR 21–53). The respondents completed STOP questionnaire for OSA risk assessment and Epworth sleepiness scale for daytime sleepiness evaluation. Results: A total of 4273 (29%) respondents had increased risk for OSA. The risk for OSA increased with age (χ2=78 . 3 5 , p < 0.001). Male respondents had a higher risk for OSA compared to female respond-ents in younger age groups (up to 70 years) (χ2 = 11.940, p = 0.018), whereas no difference was found in advanced age group (>70 years). The proportion of respondents with excessive daytime sleepiness was significantly higher in participants with increased OSA risk com-pared to those not at risk, in all age groups (χ2 = 998.36, p < 0.001). Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between age and day-time sleepiness in the male respondents (r = 0.042, p < 0.001), but not in female respondents. Conclusions: This study performed on a large population sample demonstrated that the risk for OSA increases with advanced age. Male respondents had a significantly greater risk than females in all ages, until the age of 70. Daytime sleepiness was a prominent symp-tom among subjects with increased OSA risk in all age groups, but less pronounced in females, emphasizing the influence of gender on OSA risk and symptomatology.

OSA, daytime sleepiness, age

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