Prevalence and associated factors of sleep-disordered breathing in the Turkish adult population

Abstract

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) represents a major public health problem. We investigated the risk of SDB and associated factors in the Turkish adult population. We collected data by an interviewer-administered questionnaire in a nationwide representative sample of 5021 adults (2598 women, 2423 men) with a mean age of 40.7 years (SD:15.1) in 2010. High risk of SDB was defined as the positive response to at least two of the three categories in the Berlin questionnaire (BQ). High risk of SDB was found in 13.7% (men: 11.1%, women: 20.2%). High risk of SDB prevalence was not significantly different between the genders in the analysis stratified for BMI categories. Female gender, older age, lower level of education and smoking in the past were associated with high risk of SDB in the logistic regression analysis models adjusting for age and gender. After the adjustment for age, gender, smoking, BMI and educational status, high risk of SDB, and BQ Category 2 score were associated with previous hospitalization and cardiovascular diseases. Risk due to BQ Category 1 and BQ Category 2 was more than additive in the models for hypertension and heart disease for the age groups 45–65 years and 65 years and over. Higher prevalence of SDB and obesity among women in our population should be addressed in further studies. Association between high risk of SDB and cardiovascular diseases, if confirmed, indicates the public health importance of screening for SDB symptoms.