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
Summary
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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