Investigaion on influencing factors and maternal awareness and knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Abstract

Objective To investigate maternal awareness and knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and their compliance with polysomnography monitoring in snoring gravidas. Methods This study enrolled 589 volunteered gravidas who were treated at the 908th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force or Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Jiangxi Province from April 2016 to April 2017. The maternal knowledge of OSAS (0 point: complete lack of knowledge of OSAS; 1 to 4 points: with partial knowledge of OSAS; 5 points: correct understanding of OSAS) and the way of obtaining this knowledge were studied using a self-designed questionnaire. Influencing factors, including gestational weeks, educational background, snoring and high-risk pregnancy, were also analyzed. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results The 589 gravidas had few knowledge of OSAS and only 11 of them [1.9% (11/589)] were able to fully understand OSAS (5 points). The proportion of women who were completely lack the knowledge of OSAS (0 point) in those less-educated women was higher than in those well-educated group [61.9% (78/126) vs 52.0% (241/463), χ2=3.873, P=0.049]. Among the gravidas who were unaware of their snoring condition, those completely lack the knowledge of OSAS (0 point) accounted for 67.0% (209/312), which was higher than the percentage among gravidas knowing they had or did not have snoring problem [35.6% (21/59), 40.8% (89/218); χ2=20.755, 35.687; both P 0.05). Of 59 gravidas with snoring, only 15 (25.4%) accepted polysomnography monitoring. Eight out of the 589 gravidas (1.4%) were diagnosed with OSAS during pregnancy. Conclusions Gravidas have poor knowledge and awareness of OSAS, especially those with low educational background and not knowing their snoring condition, resulting in poor compliance with polysomnography monitoring and low diagnostic rate of OSAS during pregnancy. Key words: Pregnant women; Pregnancy complications; Sleep apnea syndromes; Awareness; Surveys and questionnaires