Prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea risk in a large line of primary health care users

Abstract

Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can affect negatively individuals9 health and quality of life and are associated with various comorbidities. Aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of EDS and OSA risk and to explore their association with socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics and comorbidities of individuals visiting a primary health care setting in NE Greece. Methods: Every third patient visiting the health center was invited to participate. Finally, 771 subjects (mean age 58.2±13.1 years; 43% women) were enrolled, in a 6-month period. Socio-demographic data, sleep habits and comorbidities were recorded. EDS and OSA risk were assessed with the use of Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) respectively. Results: A significant number of individuals (n=273, 35.4%) were classified as in high OSA risk with BQ, while prevalence of EDS (i.e. ESS≥ 10) was 8.2%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that EDS was independently associated with snoring (aOR=4.32, p Additionally, in subjects with EDS, the following comorbidities were more frequent: migraine (aOR=9.24, p Conclusions: OSA risk and EDS are quite common conditions, which remain under-diagnosed, even in patients using primary healthcare services.