High Mallampati score, obesity and obstructive sleep apnea: triple insult to lung function?

Abstract

The paper assesses the combined effect of high Mallampati score, obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on lung function as measured by spirometry. Our results showed that the combination of sleep apnea, obesity and high Mallampati score resulted in a degree of restriction that was significantly greater than that produced by each factor alone. These observations underscore the importance of factoring in the Mallampati score in the assessment of respiratory disease.

Keywords

• lung function analysis
• Mallampati score
• obesity
• obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)