Abstract

Sleep apnea is a prevalent sleep disorder that disproportionately affects blacks and has been previously studied among Caribbean-born blacks in Brooklyn, New York, but there has been negligible research in the Caribbean, specifically Haiti, and developing countries on this pressing health issue. A total of 373 medical students (mean age=20.6 years ± 2.3 years) from a medical school in Haiti participated in this study. Participants were administered a questionnaire assessing their sleep health and cardiovascular outcomes. The rate of sleep apnea symptoms was: snoring (13.2%), excessive daytime sleepiness (73.7%), and difficulty maintaining sleep (25.3%). Many reported falling asleep while watching television (68.2%) or while driving (7.8%). Based on logistic regression analysis, reported nocturnal breathing pauses was the most important predictor of the likelihood of reporting a history of cardiac disease (14.96; 95% CI=1.27–76.07). Findings suggest that more aggressive effort should be made to increase screening of sleep apnea among Haitians, thereby increasing the likelihood for early detection and treatment to reduce sleep-related risk of cardiovascular disease.

Highlights

  • Sleep apnea is a prevalent sleep disorder that disproportionately affects blacks [1,2,3,4]

  • Haiti has been recovering from the earthquake, a number of challenges remain and survivors may still be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  • The aim of this study is to examine the presence of sleep fragmentation and sleep apnea in a sample of Haitian medical students, and observe the factors potentially impacting the occurrence of this health phenomenon

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Summary

Introduction

Sleep apnea is a prevalent sleep disorder that disproportionately affects blacks [1,2,3,4]. There is significant evidence that quality of nocturnal sleep plays a role in regulating Blood Pressure (BP) levels based on evidence that shows a significant association between poor nocturnal sleep and non-dipping behavior as well as the presence of sleep apnea [5]. Such evidence has concluded that OSA is an indicator of cardio metabolic risk. Haiti has been recovering from the earthquake, a number of challenges remain and survivors may still be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to WHO, 48% of total deaths in Haiti are attributed to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs); the probability of dying from one of the four main NCDs (cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, and cancer) is 24% for Haitians between ages 30 and 70 [6]

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