Age Related Effects of Sleep Apnea in Adults: A Polysomnographic Study

Abstract

Background: Age is a risk factor of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It has been shown that OSA progresses over time, full-night polysomnographic sleep study is considered to be the gold standard method for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of age on sleep apnea patients. Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study that included 95 patients conducted at a sleep laboratory in the ENT Department, Sohag University Hospital and in the Clinical Neurophysiology Unit, Cairo University. The study population age range was (20-60). All participants were subjected to personal history taking, detailed sleep history, medical history, general examination, ENT examination, Epworth sleepiness score (ESS), and polysomnography. Results: Mean age was (43.99 ± 10.96). The male-to-female ratio was 1.7/1.3. Mean BMI was 35.27 ± 7.19. Mallampati score of grade II and III represented the majority of the patients (83.1%). The range of oropharyngeal collapse (tonsil collapse) was ranging from (no collapse-100%), with a mean of (62.31±25.50). The mean value of the Epworth sleep scale score in all patients was 8.09 ± 4.26. The mean of apnea hypopnea index (AHI) was 24.08 ± 28.33. Average O2 was 82.73 ± 31.61. A statistically significant linear correlation was observed between age and BMI, the circumference of the waist and neck, duration of complaints, and collapse of the tonsils (p <0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence estimates of OSA increased continuously with age. Obesity could play an important role in elderly patients with OSAS and BMI could be a significant variable in determining the severity of OSAS in elderly patients.