Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Chronic Dizziness: Results of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2019–2021

Abstract

Background and Objectives The present study was aimed to investigate whether chronic dizziness is associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Korean adults.Subjects and Method We analyzed data from the 2019-2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and enrolled 2323 participants over the age of 40 who completed the sleep health and dizziness survey. Participants were assessed for the risk of OSA using the STOP-Bang questionnaire and then classified into three groups: low-, intermediate-, and high-risk. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the relationship between chronic dizziness and OSA.Results The intermediate-, high-, and intermediate/high-risk groups comprised older participants with a higher proportion of male and higher body mass index compared to the lowrisk groups (all <i>p</i><0.001). They also had higher rates of current smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption, hearing loss, and a higher prevalence of anemia, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The risk of chronic dizziness was significantly associated with the severity of OSA. Compared to the low-risk OSA group, the risk of chronic dizziness was significantly higher in the intermediate- (odds ratio [OR] 2.096; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.507-2.913), high- (OR 2.119; 95% CI 1.013-4.434), and intermediate/high risk OSA groups (OR 2.097; 95% CI 1.508-2.917) after adjusting for the relevant variables.Conclusion These findings suggest that early detection and intervention of OSA may be necessary to prevent the worsening of chronic dizziness in adults.