English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disease but remains underrecognized in India. Polysomnography is the gold standard test in the diagnosis of OSA but it is difficult to perform and not frequently done. Simple questionnairebased diagnostic tools can be included in the screening procedure of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) to detect the need for further OSA evaluation. The present study was undertaken to find out the proportion of OSA in CAD patients using Berlin’s and STOP-BANG questionnaires. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted to find out the proportion of OSA in CAD patients among 70 known cases of CAD referred from the Cardiology department of Government Medical College, Kottayam and 70 normal healthy adults as controls using Berlin and STOP-BANG questionnaires and the results were analyzed by SPSS software. RESULTS Among individuals with CAD, 20 %, 51.4 %, 28.6 % were found to be at high, intermediate and low risk for OSA whereas 2.9 %, 31.4 %, 65.7% were only found to have a high, intermediate and low risk for OSA in the control population as per STOP-BANG questionnaire. Around 37.1 % and 62.9 % were found to be at high and low risk for OSA among the CAD patients, whereas in the control group 11.4 % and 88.6 % were at high and low risk for OSA respectively. Hence the proportion of OSA (high risk as per the questionnaires) in CAD patients was 20 % and 37.1 % as per STOP-BANG and Berlin questionnaires respectively. The mean score obtained in CAD patients was 3.31 whereas that in normal individuals was 2.04, using the STOPBANG questionnaire. Similarly, it was 2.97 in CAD patients and 1.11 in normal individuals as per the Berlin questionnaire (P-value =0.001). CONCLUSIONS Increased risk of OSA in CAD patients compared to the normal individuals mean score for OSA was significantly high in CAD patients than in the control group. KEY WORDS OSA, CAD, Polysomnography, STOP BANG Questionnaire, Berlin Questionnaire.