Abstract
Although Obstructive sleep apnea is now recognized as one of the major public health problems because of the improvement in standards of life, however, with increasing its prevalence, it adversely affects the quality of life. So, our study was set to assess the prevalence of OSA and the factors that affect it. This may make new opportunities available by which we could bring a decline in OSA incidence after measuring its prevalence and identification of factors that affect it. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a nearby rural area of (THQ) Tehsil Headquarter Hospital, Phalia, Punjab for around three months from August 2020 to October 2020. Data was collected with the help of two questionnaires including a self-structured proforma and STOP scale. People with age less than 51years and more than 60 years were excluded and only people with age above 50 years and below 61 years were included. Data analysis was accomplished with the help of SPSS version 25 and various tests including the Chi-square test, Independent Sample t-test, and One-Way ANOVA were applied to assess the study variables. Results of the study showed an overall high prevalence of OSA higher risk (41.7% participants had a higher risk of development of OSA) Association, between OSA risk and age groups (p=0.001) and between OSA risk and Educational status (0.000) was significant statistically, while it was not significant between OSA risk and gender (p=0.394). The difference in score on the STOP scale was significant, across gender (p=0.032), three age groups (p=0.002), and four levels of education (p=0.000). Our study indicates an increased prevalence of higher risk for OSA development particularly among men, higher age, and lower education. So, proper planning is required to deal with the increasing prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea.
Highlights
Improvements in the healthcare system and standard of living have increased interest in the conditions that were given little value previously
In the presence of very few studies, our study aims to evaluate the prevalence of Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and factors that affect it among the old age population of rural area of (THQ) Tehsil Headquarter Hospital Phalia, Punjab, Pakistan, and our study would be the first of its kind in our region using the STOP questionnaire to determine the prevalence of high risk for obstructive sleep apnea among old age population
Study Design and Study Population. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on old age patient population in a nearby rural area of (THQ) Tehsil Headquarter Hospital, Phalia, Punjab, for the duration of approximately 3 months from August 2020 to October 2020. 283 patients were recruited in the study based on study exclusion and inclusion criteria i.e., only those patients were enrolled in the study who had age more than years and who were willing to participate with the exclusion of those who had age less than years and were not willing to participate
Summary
Improvements in the healthcare system and standard of living have increased interest in the conditions that were given little value previously. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of such conditions with significant adverse consequences and it is increasingly being recognized as a major source of public health concern in the last two to three decades [2]. It can be identified by recurring episodes of cessation (apnea) or reduction (hypopnea) in airflow during sleep caused by an obstruction in the upper airway [3]. A study in the literature reported that both the prevalence and severity of sleep apnea increase with age [11]
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