A new study highlights numerous risk factors for the development of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in individuals with obesity. The findings were published in the journal Obesity Surgery.
A population-based study analysed 276,600 obese patients (body mass index [BMI], ≥30 kg/m2) identified from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in the UK.
Prevalence of OSA in the study population was found to be 5.4 per cent. Multivariate analysis identified several risk factors independently associated with an increased risk of OSA in obese patients. These include male sex (OR, 3.273; P<.001), BMI class II (OR, 1.640; P<.001) and class III (OR, 3.768; P<.001), smoking (OR, 1.179; P<.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR, 1.722; P<.001), gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (OR, 1.557; P<.001), hypothyroidism (OR, 1.311; P<.001), acromegaly (OR, 3.543; P<.001) and benzodiazepine use (OR, 1.492; P<.001).
Furthermore, the study found bariatric surgery to exhibit a protective effect against the development of OSA (OR, 0.260; P<.001).
The authors stated: "By identifying the clinicopathological characteristics that increase the propensity for patients to develop OSA, these results aid primary care providers and non-specialists in obesity and/or respiratory medicine to identify which obese patients are more likely to develop OSA."
