Nature and Science of Sleep (Dec 2023)

Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using Home Sleep Test in Taiwan During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

  • Chou TTC,
  • Hsu HC,
  • Twu CW,
  • Huang WK,
  • Huang HM,
  • Weng SH,
  • Chen MC

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 1107 – 1116

Abstract

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Tyron Tai-Chun Chou,1,* Hsin-Chien Hsu,1– 3,* Chih-Wen Twu,4,5 Wen-Kuan Huang,6 Hung-Meng Huang,1,7 Shih-Han Weng,8 Ming-Chih Chen2 1Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; 2Graduate Institute of Business Administration, College of Management, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 3General Education Center, University of Taipei, Taipei City, Taiwan; 4Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua County, Taiwan; 5Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City, Taiwan; 6Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan City, Taiwan; 7Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan; 8Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ming-Chih Chen, Institute of Business Administration, College of Management, Fu Jen Catholic University, No. 510, Zhongzheng Road, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, 242062, Taiwan, Email [email protected]: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disorder associated with serious sequelae. The current gold standard diagnostic method, polysomnography, is costly and time consuming and requires patients to stay overnight at a facility.Aim: This study aimed to reveal the prevalence of OSAS in general adult population using a home sleep test (HST) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted by the Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, between January 2020 and December 2021. A total of 1372 patients aged 30– 70 years completed an HST using a Type 3 portable sleep monitor (PM). The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was analyzed to assess the association of OSAS with age, body mass index (BMI), sex, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Sleep Apnea Risk Assessment questionnaire (STOP-Bang questionnaire) rating.Results: The mean age of the patients (782 men, 57%; 590 women, 43%) was 49.24 ± 11.04 years. OSAS was detected in 954 (69.5%) patients with 399 (29.1%) mild OSAS; 246 (17.9%) moderate OSAS; and 309 (22.5%) severe OSAS. Among these, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe OSAS was 143 (10.4%) in women and 412 (30.0%) in men. The mean age was the highest (51.29 ± 11.29) in the mild OSAS group and lowest (47.08 ± 10.87) in the healthy group. OSAS severity was greater with increasing BMI, 23.39 ± 3.44 in the healthy group and 29.29 ± 5.01 in the severe OSAS group. A positive correlation was also noted between the ESS/STOP-Bang questionnaire rating and OSAS severity.Conclusion: The prevalence of OSAS in Taiwan was 69.5% in our study. It showed strong evidence that OSAS has important public health consequences and PMs are simple, fast, feasible, and cost-effective tools for OSAS screening in the home environment, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords: COVID-19, obstructive sleep apnea, portable sleep monitor, home sleep test, apnea-hypopnea index

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